Comrade Ayobiojo on the right with APFFLON President, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite in red native attire and AC Okon from Valuation Unit, Tin Can Island Command immediately after the chief.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) on Wednesday carried out a medical outreach with some agencies of government within the Maritime sector also in attendance.
The medical outreach held at the outer layout of the Tin Can Port Truck park by the second gate. The event which was put together by the Tin Can Island chapter of the association headed by Comrade Akeem Ayobiojo witnessed the testing and treatment of participants by qualified medical personnel.
The chapter chairman in his opening speech spoke about the need for members and indeed the general public to take their health more seriously to avoid the now common sudden death.
There was health talk by Joshua Gbenga Aderinola (PhD) who spoke on the need for people to care of their kidneys, to look out for symptoms of kidney problems like back ache, swollen feet and others. He also advised that people should avoid certain lifestyles and to drink a lot of water for proper removal of impurities, general good kidneys and body health.
Dr. Aderinola added that eating of less fatty or fried foods and the intake of fruits and vegetables will enhance good kidney health for a general well-being . He specifically advises against the use of drugs for sexual purposes.
Commander of Narcotics, Rachel Abhudemere-James of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while speaking at the occasion said that her agency’s job is too fold. First is the arrest of drug dealers and seizure of their merchandise and the second is the war against drug abuse (WADA).
She advises that all freight forwarders should know their clients well enough and to be properly guided when accepting to clear their goods as ignorance is not an excuse in law. She encourages everyone that the fight against drug abuse is that of everybody as no one can tell who will be the next addict.
Assistant Comptroller of Customs U Okon of the Valuation Unit, Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service spoke about the activities of the Service especially in the area of the protection of the national economy which also has a direct impact on public health.
He noted that a lot of innovation is taking place within the Service as occasioned by the Comptroller-General of Customs, that freight forwarders and licensed Customs agents are being fully integrated in it all. He also spoke about the Authorised Economic Operator which aims to expedite the goods clearing processes and raise the predictability index of cargo movement.
AC Okon commended APFFLON members for being generally compliant in most of their engagements with the Customs as he said that the Service wants that compliant relationship to continue.
Dr. Irinyemi Ademola of the Redeemer’s University spoke on the need for freight forwarders to continually undergo training. He said “If you do not open up yourself for learning, you may go down, you must always renew your capacity for growth and development”.
A group photograph after the event.
The national public relations officer of the association Mr. Razak Giwa also weighed in on the activities of the association saying the the young association is waxing stronger. He noted that their fight against the Webb-Fontaine, the former internet provider resulted in the development of the home grown software application currently used by the Customs known as the Unified Customs Management System, codenamed the B’Odogwu.
At the end of the event the chairman of the Tin Can Island Port chapter spoke to us about the event. He said that “we are using this day to thank the Almighty God for his love, protection, mercies and generosity in our lives as well as celebrating with all stakeholders while carrying out the medical outreach. The attendance of the event especially by the government agencies has been heart warming and the free medical service has been inspired by the need to reach out to people within this area”.
The president of the association, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite said “This is the last month of the year, a time to reflect on our lives, meet, talk and make merry. The free medical outreach was necessitated by the fact of dwindling economy and the need to help people in the little way we can. This outreach is here to stay and we shall make it bigger by next year”.
This free medical gesture can be interpreted as a clarion call to the more fortunate members of the various communities to exhibit a bit more generosity to our society.
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