The Comptroller- General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has decried the proliferation of associations in the freight forwarding industry, encouraging these groups to emulate the maritime media which recently came together to organise a strategic industry award on Thursday.
Adeniyi, who received an award as the Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year 2024, observed that the discord among freight forwarding associations has seen the groups share divergent views on pertinent industry issues, thereby giving confusing signals to policy makers.
Specifically, he disclosed that discordant tunes from the freight forwarders make it difficult for policy makers to consult them on vital policies affecting their profession.
During the Award and Dinner night organized by the maritime media to honour Adeniyi for his exemplary leadership as the helmsman of the NCS, he said that “the story of Customs agents is similar to that of maritime journalists in terms of proliferation of associations.”
“The policy makers want to respect the freight forwarders by consulting them on matters of policies about their profession but the discordant tunes coming from them make it difficult for such consultations”
Adeniyi pleaded with the confraternity of the freight forwarders to come together under one umbrella for them to present unified position to government on matters affecting their industry.
He therefore charged both Prince Shittu Olayiwola, the former National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents(ANLCA) and Alhaji Akeem Olanrewaju, the Chairman of the Customs Consultative Council( CCC) to spearhead the unification drive of the freight forwarding associations, given their vantage positions in the freight forwarding industry.
Five freight forwarding groups are recognized by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria(CRFFN), the government regulatory agency for freight forwarding industry. These groups include; ANLCA, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licence Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Nigerian Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC), and the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (AREFFN).
It could also be recalled that the freight forwarders often accused the government of not carrying them along in some of the policies affecting their profession.
Recently, the agitated customs brokers accused the Customs of not consulting them before the 4 per cent FOB charge was imposed on them, a protest which made Customs to suspend the fee for enough consultation.
Meanwhile, the CGC equally admonished the maritime media to consider collapsing the multiple associations among them which he said has been impeding efforts to access opportunities in the maritime industry.
He believed that their unification will enable them to access better welfare opportunities from stakeholders, listing some of these opportunity to include; life insurance package, housing mortgage schemes for decent accommodation, among others.
The CGC also promised to lead the crusade for better welfare for maritime journalists in partnership with other heads of government agencies, but emphasised that is will only be successful if the groups could come together as one body.
