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The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi has given two weeks ultimatum for all Customs agents to register with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) or risk losing their licenses.
The Transport Minister gave this directive while giving his address at a two-day conference on “Improved Ports Efficiency in Nigeria” organised by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organization of Nigeria (MARCON) in Lagos.
Amaechi warned that Customs agents were breaking the law as he asserted that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) should be responsible for their registration and not the Nigeria Customs Service.
“The leadership of the Customs agents should meet with the Customs and resolve their differences otherwise the next step I’m going to take is to ask the CGC Hammed Ali to order fresh registration of all Customs agents” He stressed.
The Transport Minister also revealed that he would partner with the National Assembly to ensure that the four sectoral bills which are; the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill (2015), the National Inland Waterways Authority Bill (2015), the Nigeria Railways Authority Bill (2015) and the National Transport Commission Bill (2015) are passed into law and implemented speedily.
Meanwhile the founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam disclosed that he was very impressed with Amaechi’s vigour to get the ports more efficient.
“Most of the issues discussed during the conference are things that we are very familiar with. What we have been lacking is the implementation of polices. However, I’m very impressed with the new vigour and drive in Transport Minister and this should be appreciated.” Dr. Aniebonam said.
Aniebonam stressed that the efficiency of the ports was tied to the enforcement of regulations. “We keep on churning out laws in this country but we hardly enforce these laws. We also need proper institutional arrangement.” He added.
By Kenneth Jukpor
