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By Kenneth Jukpor
The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) unveiled its new logo on Thursday, last week after a strategic meeting with members of the Board of the Governing Council.
Speaking on the sideline at the event, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Mr. Abubakar Tsanni reiterated the Council’s commitment to ensure the practice of freight forwarding in Nigeria was carried out by professionals.
Tsanni disclosed this at the ceremony which also marked the 22nd Governing Council meeting of the Council on Thursday last week in Lagos, noted that several issues which limited the progress of the Council in the past were addressed in the meeting.
“I can assure you that in this second quarter of 2019, you would see a lot of positive changes in the freight forwarding industry. Recall that the Council came up facing the challenge of recruiting a new registrar. We have done that and moved in to ensure that freight forwarders get some commission from their business” he said.
According to him, this is the first time the Council was making it mandatory that when agents pay money, certain commissions should be given back to the agents.
He assured that the collection of Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) would commence very soon; whilst stating that in this second quarter, CRFFN would set the standard for every practicing freight forwarder, including education to make sure that they were professionals.
Earlier, the Registrar of CRFFN, Barr. Samuel Nwakohu highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) CRFFN signed with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) as notable developments which brings the number of accredited education service providers to sixteen (16) and the number of trained facilitators to about one hundred (100).
He noted that CRFFN expects to have all freight forwarders in Nigeria duly registered and seen to have acquired FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding and Supply Chain Management by 2021 or stand to be de-registered.
Nwakohu also assured the Governing Council that his team was already reaching out to stakeholders, including the press to reassure them of the renewed enthusiasm to deliver on the mandate of the Council which is to regulate and control the activities of freight forwarding in Nigeria.
He stated that a one year strategic plan has been developed to give the Council a new direction while a bi-weekly management meeting had been institutionalized to strengthen team spirit among the management staff.
The Registrar who is also the Secretary to the Governing Council stated that on the occasion of his first 100 days in office, he would be engaging stakeholders and showcasing the achievements and potentials of the Council.
He also revealed his team’s immediate pursuit of acquisition of a corporate headquarters in Lagos to give the Council a corporate visibility image with additional zonal offices in Enugu and Sokoto, with utmost urgency, bringing the number of zonal offices in the country to six (6).
The CRFFN boss also disclosed that CRFFN had secured all necessary budget approvals at the National Assembly, especially the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the collection of the long awaited POF.
He also noted that his regime had created a Website Committee to work alongside the SW Global with the sole task of updating the Website in terms of contents and structure to reflect the status of the Council and the scope of its operations
