NAGAFF Boss Chides Critics Of Shippers’ Council

The National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Eugene Nweke has described the accusation levelled against the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), that it is not legitimate for it to review the capital base of freight forwarding firms as baseless.

Chief Nweke said that as an organisation set up to regulate and sanitise the Maritime Sector so as to bring competiveness, the NSC must adhere to professionalism, which involves putting first things first to ensure proper accountability and transparency and that some Freight Forwarders misconstrued as ineffectiveness because they did not go immediately to tackling the problem of arbitrary charges and exploitative tendencies of the Terminal Operators.

According to him, “What NSC is trying to do while not compromising it’s regulating power is insisting on flexibility which involves the concept of persuasion, negotiation, concentration and dialogue, that is why it has been consulting, dialoguing because in international trade rigidity is not acceptable but flexibility is the word”.

He further stated that the NSC was just made the economic regulatory body of a sector that have been existing for years with cartels and vested interests in so many areas, that people should  not start expecting results immediately but should give them time and space to do their jobs.

He said also that the country should develop a consumer price index (CPI) a measure or parameter which standardizes the price of things so that if anything goes beyond its stated price, questions will be asked as to why.

Chief Nweke later enjoined Freight Forwarders who still operate third party logistic provider to expand their horizon, look for ways to broaden their activities so as to meet and identify with committee of freight forwarders who have gone beyond third party logistics providers to fifth party logistic provider.