Freight Monitor

Amaechi hails capacity building programme of CRFFN

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation

—-as about 400 freight forwarders graduate in maiden exercise

Tunde Ojudun

The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has lauded the capacity-building programme of the Council For the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria(CRFFN) which he believed has marked out freight forwarding practice as a job for professionals and no longer an all-comers affair.

Amaechi, who was speaking at the maiden graduation ceremony of about 400 freight forwarders in Freight Forwarding And Supply Chain Management which was held on Saturday at the University of Lagos, described the event as a milestone for freight forwarding business in Nigeria.

The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, enthused that the graduands have been marked out as professionals and that freight forwarding is fast becoming a profession for professionals only.

Looking back, he believed that “we can say we are doing the right thing and we are getting it right now.”

The Minister stated that freight forwarding in Nigeria is changing for the better and stated that as the world is going digital, stakeholders should look for more innovative ways to do the job of freight forwarding.

a cross-section of the graduands

He said he was looking forward to the contributions of professional freight forwarders to the digitalization of shipping operations.

In his speech, the guest speaker and immediate past Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello noted that if Nigeria had embraced technology, the problem of port congestion would not have reared its ugly head.

He called for the simplification of clearing procedures as he pointed out that freight forwarders are central to the digitalization of the ports.

He commended the National Assembly for passing the CRFFN act of 2007.

Bello noted that though the Nigeria Customs Service has modernized but charged the agency to carry along other stakeholders in its modernization programme for seamless port operation.

He tasked freight forwarders to be up and doing as they are very strategic to maritime operations.

Bello said that as professionals, freight forwarders should not be talking about closing down the ports when there is disagreement but should be in the vanguard of negotiating for better tariffs and charges for efficient port operations.

In his goodwill message, the Acting Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, averred that the freight and logistics market in Nigeria has had to grapple with several challenges such as poor hinterland infrastructure, regulatory inconsistencies, insufficient investments, and high operating costs, among others.

He stated that as the custodian of seaports in Nigeria, NPA is committed to the elimination of bottlenecks to efficient cargo delivery and evacuation from the port, adding that the Authority has introduced several measures to address traffic gridlock into the ports as well as reduce transaction costs for port users.

Bello-Koko averred that despite the good efforts of the CRFFN, the domestic freight logistics industry in Nigeria remains highly fragmented, saying that the big-ticket jobs are in the hands of foreign and multinational companies from Europe and Asia.

The NPA boss enjoined local practitioners to eschew unhealthy rivalry and acrimony, but embrace consensus building and a culture of compromise.

He revealed that Nigeria’s renaissance depends a lot on a virile and competitive supply chain, stating that it’s the responsibility of freight regulators, service providers, or freight practitioners to rise above operating in silos and work in unity to grow Nigeria’s freight logistics industry into the best in Africa.

He said that the NPA regards the CRFFN as a strategic partner and ally in progress and promised to offer the needed support at all levels to the council in the discharge of its mandate to grow the knowledge base of Nigerian freight forwarders, which will ultimately bring greater prosperity to Nigerians and expand the revenue base of government at all levels.

Freight Monitor

ANLCA postpones NECOM election to July 5th as ASECO releases fresh guidelines

Nze Aloysius Emeka Igwe, ASECO Chairman, ANLCA

Following the death of the erstwhile chairman of the Association Electoral Commission(ASECO) of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents( ANLCA), Mr. Alloy Anukwuru, who died in April 2023, the new Chairman of the electoral body has released a fresh guideline for the much-anticipated election.

In the new electoral timetable released by the new chairman of the eight-man electoral committee, Nze Aloysius Emeka Igwe, whose appointment by the board of the association sequel to the death of Anokwuru, was announced about a week ago, the ANLCA NECOM election will now hold on July 5th, 2023.

This is about less than a two-month extension from the original date of May 25th, 2023 as earlier announced by the electoral body when it was headed by late Anukwuru.

According to the new electoral guideline signed by the new Chairman of ASECO, Emeka Igwe and Alhaji Mustapha Yakubu, the ASECO Secretary, there will be registration of voters at the Western Zone(National Headquarters), Eastern Zone(Onne) and Northern Zone(Abuja) from May 17th -June 2nd, 2023.

Also, the sales of nomination form/letter of intent closes on May 26th, 2023 while the final submission of the original nomination form is slated for between May 26th- 30th, 2023.

Electoral petitions by aggrieved members or participants will be entertained from June 2nd-9th, 2023 while the publication of the aspirants/first provision voters list will be between June 5th -9th, 2023.

The verification and the screening of original documents of voters in the Western Zone hold between June 12th-15th, 2023 while the verification and screening of licenses of voters in the Eastern Zone takes place June 19th -21st, 2023 and that of the Northern Zone takes place between June 22rd-23rd, 2023.

The screening of the aspirants is slated for July 3rd, 2023 while the publication of the final voters and candidate list will also be done on July 3rd, 2023.

The proper election and declaration of results by the returning officer holds on July 5th, 2023, thus ushering in the new executives that will pilot the affairs of the battle-weary ANLCA for a single term of five years.

Freight Monitor

Aftermath of Anokwuru’s death: ANLCA appoints Alloy Igwe as new ASECO chairman

The eyewitness reporter

A few weeks after the death of Alloy Anokwuru, the erstwhile Chairman of the Associations Electoral Committee (ASECO) of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA)who died in April, the association has appointed Alloy Chukwuemeka Igwe as a new chairman of ASECO.

Unveiling the new chairman at the National Secretariat of the association, Kayode Farinto, the Acting National President of ANLCA, charged the new chairman to leave above board.

“Don’t collect bribes in your new assignment. You may be blackmailed but you should remain steadfast” he charged the new ASECO chairman.

Farinto disclosed that the appointment of the new electoral body was made and ratified at a combined meeting of the association’s NECOM and BOT, last week Saturday.

“There shouldn’t be a vacuum and that was the reason this appointment had to be made.

While eulogizing the former ASECO chairman, Farinto said the association was equally confident in the ability of the new chairman who has an impeccable pedigree in the association.

He said there was a new dawn in ANLCA as never again will unlicensed members be allowed to lord it over the licensed members.

“If the election is successful, it will herald a rebirth of the association and its lost glory will return” Farinto declared.

He, therefore, charged the new chairman and the electoral committee to sanitize the electoral process in the association for the betterment of the group.

He also admonished ANLCA members to remain united and resolute in the current efforts to rebuild the association.

The board also appointed Mr Sanusi Adebayo Suleiman from the MMA chapter as the eighth member of ASECO.

Mr Aloy Igwe and Suleiman were later sworn in by the Acting National President of ANLCA.

The new chairman promised to deliver on his mandate and expressed gratitude to the association for his appointment.

He however said the old timetable of the NECOM election will have to be amended to reflect the new realities on the ground.

The timetable for the NECOM election drawn by the ASECO before Aloy Anokwuru died shows that the election is supposed to hold May, 25th 2023.

It still remains to be seen if the little disruption caused by the death of the former Chairman will affect the date or not.

Freight Monitor

ANLCA holds NECOM elections May 25th as ASECO releases guidelines

The eyewitness reporter

The much-anticipated elections into the National Executive Council of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents(ANLCA) holds on May 25th, 2023.

According to the election timetable released by the Association Electoral Commission(ASECO), a copy of which was sighted by our reporter, the notice of election has been published on April 11, 2023, while the registrations of voters will be conducted by ASECO at the ANLCA national secretariat from April 12th to 28th, 2023.

The guideline, dated April 11th, 2023, also revealed that the electoral committee will entertain letters of intent from interested contestants from April 12th- April 28th, 2023.

Also, nomination forms with elections guidelines will be on sale from April 12th- April 19th, 2023 while the final submission of the original nomination forms and other requirements by aspirants will be on the 27th of April 2023.

Furthermore, the screening of aspirants will take place from May 2nd-May 9th, 2023 while election petitions will be entertained May 10th -18th, 2023.

Also, a provisional list of voters and candidates will be published on May 19th, 2023 while there will be a joint ASECO/BOT/NECOM meeting on May 22nd, 2023 to consider and resolve election petitions.

The final voters and candidates list will be published on May 23rd, 2023.

May 25th, 2023, will be the D-day when the elections will hold and the results declared by the returning officer.

Following the consummation of the peace pact between the two warring parties in ANLCA which ushered in an era of peace in the association that was on the boil for five years, a seven-member electoral body called ASECO, headed by Mr. Alloy Anukwuru, was inaugurated to conduct elections into the association’s NECOM.