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Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, Founder, NAGAFF ANLCA withdraws law suit on POF collection
By Kenneth Jukpor
The Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has called on the five registered freight forwarding associations to quit the injurious struggle for relevance but join forces in the fight to improve their earnings as professionals and grow the nation’s economy.
The NAGAFF Founder made this call at a joint press briefing yesterday, which had NAGAFF, National Council for the Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (ARFFN) and National Association of Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC) present, but the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) was absent.
Dr. Aniebonam said: “We are fighting for our earnings. We are fighting to make our own contributions to the growth of the nation’s economy. We are fighting to bring honour and integrity to this freight forwarding profession. We must all join hands to give ourselves a leadership”
He stressed that the government had done enough for the development of freight forwarding in the country, noting that the onus of further improvement rested solely on the practitioners.
“On our own, we must do what we can to give ourselves peace. The consensus is from the various association to seek support and as we all know, NAGAFF and ANLCA have six slots each and one each for other sister associations and we pray as we move they will grow and their capacity will increase. We can always sit down and resolve issues”, he stated.
He also revealed that the leadership of ANLCA had withdrawn the law suit initiated on the collection of Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) against CRFFN.
On his part, the founder of the ARFFN, Dr. Frank Ukor, commended NAGAFF for the wonderful initiative of bringing all the associations together, describing the development as a milestone in the sector.
“I want to say that this is the beginning of the new things that will come to the associations and the industry” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Secretary General of NCMDLCA, Mr. Festus Ukwu stressed that it was a good thing for all the associations to be able to speak with one voice.
The NAGAFF Founder appreciated the Minister of Transportation, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Barr. Hassan Bello, the Registrar of CRFFN, Mr. Mike Jukwe and others for working to ensure that the election succeeds.
“I also thank Olayiwola Shittu, Mr. Tony Iju, Dr. Frank Ukor, Festus Ukwu, Agubamah and others, for having that wisdom to reason well and to be able to work together so that we can find a place like others in the society”, he added.
