The Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers (NIFFCB) has called on the Freight Forwarders to cooperate with it in its drive to train crop of dedicated individuals that could be of service to the Freight forwarding industry.
Addressing the National officers and Lagos Chapter Executives of the National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators during a courtesy visit to the association’s Secretariat in Lagos on Tuesday, the National president of NIFFCB, Dr. Zebulon Ikokide said that the appeal was necessary so as not to allow the positive contributions of the Freight forwarding industry to be tarnished through disorganized and uncoordinated activities.
Dr. Ikokide stated that the institute which was incorporated in 1991 was established with the clear objectives to train, test and certify practitioners and also to ensure professionalism and standardization, research, knowledge for practitioners to effectively practice the freight forwarding profession so as to make meaningful contributions to the industry.
According to him,” the Nigerian Institute of freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers (NIFFCB) is primarily concerned with the provision of courses of study and conducting professional examinations designed to guide entrants into the profession in obtaining appropriate qualifications which will enable them function effectively as freight forwarders”.
He noted that with the positive support from the association and the federal government’s new law that was meant to regulate the freight forwarding in Nigeria, they would collectively contribute positively to the development of the freight forwarding in the country.
On his part, the Acting Executive Secretary of NIFFCB, Mr. Ifeanyi Joseph disclosed that NIFFCB is a training arm of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and that it was enjoying the support of the Council as is evidenced in his secondment from the council to the institute to serve as the Executive secretary.
Mr. Joseph hinted that the idea behind the establishment of the Institute was to give the freight forwarders a sense of belonging by giving them an institute they could proudly call their own.
“We will provide different fora for you in terms of seminars, workshops and conferences where you can come together and interact, network and socialize irrespective of which freight forwarding association you belong to”.
“We also want to establish a database where all practicing freight forwarder in Nigeria can be domiciled for reference and information purposes”, Joseph said.
He averred that with the professional body like NIFFCB, Freight forwarders and Customs brokers in Nigeria would be exposed to both formal and informal training that would bring them at par with their counterparts across the world.
Responding, the President General of NAFFAC, Mr. C.A.T Agubamah described the development as heart warming even as he advised against hiking the training and the annual membership due thereby making the institute unaffordable to members and intending members noting that doing so would be counter productive for the institute.
He further advised that the institute should ensure that its curricular are tailored towards the practical aspects of freight forwarding practice so as to equip the freight forwarders to adequately face the demands and challenges of their profession.
”When you are fixing your annual membership dues, consider making it as affordable as #5,000 so that it will encourage more practitioners to enroll and become members because the economy of this country is so hard that most of them are already being burdened by so many responsibilities in their families”, Agubamah advised.
