Prince Olusegun Ologbese (Stakeholder)
It’s a welcome development, I must say but there is the need for decency. Coming to Lagos is important because this is where the major operation is located and there is no water in Abuja; that is, no operation. Just like what happened to NPA in time past and Lagos as the premium needs proper monitoring by the council in line with its mandate to regulate the practitioners.
Comrade Pius David (Stakeholder)
Prince Olusegun Ologbese (Stakeholder)
It’s a welcome development, I must say but there is the need for decency. Coming to Lagos is important because this is where the major operation is located and there is no water in Abuja; that is, no operation. Just like what happened to NPA in time past and Lagos as the premium needs proper monitoring by the council in line with its mandate to regulate the practitioners.
Comrade Pius David (Stakeholder)
They can make good things out of the development, because the main operations are in Lagos. Here is the hub of maritime operations and it is now left for the council to do proper regulatory work on the practitioners and their respective associations. CRFFN can sanction or de-register any erring individual or associations as the case may have it and apart from their location, there is the need for them to be proactive in their quest to achieve greatness.
Daniel Williams (FFAN)
Ordinarily, if the organisation is working, where there office is does not count, but in the case of CRFFN they never should have left Lagos in the first place, but due to some selfish interest and political relevance which they never needed prompted there move to Abuja. Maybe they want to come and assist the Nigerian Shippers’ council in their work as the port’s economic. In all, what we have seen and continue to see is a set of people who are filtering around with no future ambition. But if they have realized that they don't have any business in Abuja and then wanted to come down to Lagos, it’s okay, but until now we are yet to know the reason for the relocation. I guess we should all keep our fingers cross.
Dr. Zebulon ikokide (President NIFF)
Coming to Lagos will bring about frequent training and re-training of the practitioners, because when they use to be in Abuja, the training process must get approval from the Abuja head office but as it now, training of the practitioners will be constant
Mr. Simeon Nwonu (PRO, NAGAFF)
After the building of the ship house by the NPA, the NPA house was later moved from Lagos to Abuja and back to Lagos when it was discovered that it was like putting a square peg in a round whole and since the NPA decided to relocate their headquarters back to Lagos. This is also applicable to the CRFFN because you do not have to distance yourself from the people you are regulating, it is important that the CRFFN should have its headquarters in Lagos that is where the action is and in other to avoid a breakdown of information flow between the station here in Lagos and the people in Abuja. Coming back to Lagos means that they have done the right thing, because if they are in Abuja, how will they regulate us here in Lagos. So I must say it means putting a round peg in a round hole.
Mr Kayode Farinto. (ANLCA)
I do not think the relocation of the CRFFN from Abuja to Lagos is something important or an issue to discuss. Looking at it from my own point of view, I do not think it is the solution to the problems faced by the Council; looking at critical issues that need to be settled. Though bringing it down to Lagos is a good step, if I may ask who is relocating to where? It's not only Jukwe, he is the only man who doing is job, the council should always keep to their promise and until they do so and put the council in place, then every freight forwarder will come together and say where they want their headquarters to be; whether you relocate from Asaba to Lagos that will not bring solution to the problem on ground.
Aare Sanni Shittu (Member, BOT ANLCA)
CRFFN having office in Abuja has no relevance to the activities of practicing agents, Lagos is where the whole thing is happening, even the Shippers Council knows this, the NPA knows this, the NPA once had their headquarters in Abuja before Obasanjo ordered them back to Lagos because the seaport and other activities are here, CRFFN office in Abuja should just be an administrative office, but the main office should be here because we are all here. A lot of things have been left undone because the Council has been busy finding ways to make money from the port; this has distracted them from their main objectives of regulating the industry, the earlier they go back to those objectives the better for them. For instance, they are supposed to have renewed our membership two times, but this has been abandoned, now they don't have a Governing Council and this negates the constitution of that body.
Dr. Fred Adjuzie (Chair, Apapa NAGAFF)
Before now, I am of the opinion that CRFFN should move their headquarters very close to the ports where they belong, they are a freight forwarding council and they cannot be in Abuja and be doing this, the stakeholders are here in Lagos and I believe that when the council is close to the stakeholders, it will know more about them. The coming of the council's headquarters to Lagos will bring in cohesion, they will be meeting together often with stakeholders, just like other regulators like the Shippers Council, whenever there are issues they call on the operators for meeting, I think the two bodies should be working together to reposition the industry.
Kehinde Odumuyiwa (Importer)
Coming to Lagos will have an effect on the CRFFN activities. I don't know what they were doing in Abuja before now, everything they are supposed to do is here, if they come to Lagos, they will be able to see what we are facing, they can have an office in Abuja because it is the capital of the country, but their main stand must be in Lagos, this is where everything is being done. Presently, the people in the freight forwarding associations are not doing the right thing, the agent is just a middle man between the Federal Government and the importer, but they are not doing the normal thing for people to follow.
Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick (Cordinator, Save Nigeria)
It will help them to strategize and make them balance, it will further help them to device avenues to tackle the backlog of problems that they have inherited over the years. However, this does not mean that they will stop having an office in Abuja, but if they want to make a positive impact, then they should have their headquarters in Lagos, it will have a good impact on agents because now they will be able to go to the council and report their issues and challenges, we will no longer be running to Abuja every time there is an issue that requires their attention, this development will help CRFFN to fight tooth and nail. I also charge them to bring all the associations under one body and boost the Maritime Advocacy and Action Group (MAAG) which every association has already signed under.
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