Story by Dili Utomi.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Thursday played host to the officials of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy with the officials of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria also in attendance.
The venue of the meeting was the NAGAFF Headquarters at Maybin Street, Apapa Lagos and it was a veritable opportunity for members of the association to ask questions as well as make some suggestions on the way forward for the maritime sector of the Nigerian economy.
In a welcome address which was delivered by Mr. Simeon Nwonu, a deputy national president who represented the president at the occasion, a number of issues were raised . Part of his presentation reads “The distinguished staff of the Minister of Marine and Blue economy your esteemed presence today, alongside the representative of the CEO of CRFFN, speaks volumes of your steadfast commitment to engaging with vital stakeholders in our industry. We are sincerely grateful for your visit and for your ongoing dedication to the progress and development of this sector”.
He continued “Today, we look forward to engaging in several key areas of mutual interest:
– Enhancing port efficiency and reducing cargo dwell time.
– Improving the regulatory framework for freight forwarding operations.
– Promoting capacity building and professional development within the industry.
– Encouraging greater participation of Indigenous freight forwarders in the blue economy.
– Supporting the growth and effective regulation of the CRFFN.
We are confident that by working together, we can achieve our common goal of transforming Nigeria’s maritime sector into a global hub of excellence”.
It was an interactive session and a lot of questions were raised by those present regarding the arduous operational environment and two key figures who represented the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Solomon Zaks and Mr. Mathew Ayanruji responded.
Regarding the non-availability of workable communication platforms for electronic correspondences from CRFFN, Mr Ayanruji responded that the CRFFN is working to make their platform work better for easier operations. He also spoke about the thorny matter of the collection of the practitioners operating fees (POF) where stakehders complain that their accounts are debited on multiple occasions, yet they do not get refunds. He assured the stakeholders that this situation shall soon be corrected.
On the matter of training, Mr Ayanruji said that the CRFFN has signed agreements with 18 institutions for training programmes and urged all stakeholders to key into the programmes, he also assured all that the ongoing free training programmes shall continue as human capital development is a key agenda of the Ministry.
Florence Egbune, the head of training at the CRFFN also added that before the end of the 2nd quarter, thier training programmes for the year shall be rolled out and urged everyone to take advantage of it all.
The founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam in his usual fiery comments spoke candidly about what he thinks of the current state of the CRFFN and the way forward. He said that since the Council was formed in 2007 that it has not achieved anything, he asks the representatives of the minister these messages to the honourable minister.
That the register of fright forwarders is compiled and with both the CRFFN and the Nigeria Customs Service.
That it seems that the CRFFN is cursed because it was domiciled with the Ministry of Transport.
That the freight forwarders in Nigeria wish to be like their counterparts all over the world in thoughts, words, knowledge and actions.
That freight forwarding is distinct from Licensed Customs Agents because it is a practice that gives one the knowledge about the global logistics trend.
That a case that lacks merit has been instituted in court against the selection process for the new registrar and we think that he should intervene.
That there are many ills militating against the CRFFN and these are the reasons why the bill for the amendment of the CRFFN act has been sent to the national assembly for its proper functioning.
That two legal instruments namely the Customs act 2023 and the CRFFN act are documents that should empower Nigerians to operate in the maritime space, but that are not properly applied in practice.
That the cabotage law is supposed to provide opportunities to empower Nigerians in owing their own vessels, but which has also not been applied and we now have foreigners inside the ports doing freight forwarding businesses.
That the CRFFN is supposed to protect freight forwarders by the nature of its reason d’étre, but has not been functioning well”.
Dr. Aniebonam concluded by saying that “We are happy with the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and also thank him profusely for choosing one of us as the registrar of CRFFN, but we also want the registrar to be properly supported by the minister”.
Observers are worried that the uncoordinated activities within the maritime sector has not given room for the growth of businesses, the knowledge of the potentials of the sector as a true economic booster notwithstanding, they fear that these potentials may not be realised at least in the immediate consideration because of the stated reason.
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