…Says withdrawal of service a collective decision
The Freight Forwarding associations under the aegis of Joint Association Committee (JAC) Apapa has said that the decision to withdraw services from the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) and ENL all in Apapa, Lagos Nigeria since on Monday this week was a collective decision of all the associate members of the committee.
You may wish to know that JAC comprises of all the Freight Forwarding associations operating at Apapa Port namely; the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) and the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN).
It was earlier alleged by a group in the maritime industry that the decision to withdraw the Services of freight forwarders from APMT and ENL was a unilateral one made and executed by ANLCA saying that other associations were left with no other option than to be onlookers on the unfolding action.
But in a swift reaction, the Chairman of NAGAFF Apapa Chapter, Dr. Fred Ajuzie debunked the claim adding that the decision was borne out of a thorough consideration of the situation in Apapa port by all the member associations.
Ajuzie disclosed that before they withdrew their services from the two companies involved, they consulted widely as well as wrote several notifications so as not to jeopardize the Nigerian economy.
According to him,” there at my left hand side is the Chairman of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents Apapa Chapter, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko while I am the NAGAFF Chairman Apapa. So, I don’t know from which quarter that you heard that it was only ANLCA that is on strike”.
“Everything about Apapa, I just want to make it very clear, in Apapa, we are not separate, I don’t know about any other chapter, we have a Joint Association Committee which comprise of NAGAFF, ANLCA, Council and AREFFN and anything that we are doing, it is like that. It is not only ANLCA, it is a joint issue”.
On his part, the Chairman of NCMDLCA Apapa Chapter, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko aligned his submission to that of Dr. Ajuzie saying that members of his task force and that of other associations’ task force were working together at the Lagos Ports Gate to ensure full compliance with the ongoing action by their members.
He said,” like my colleague said, it is not true. You can see the three of us here and if you get to the gate there, you will see that my task force men are there wearing my vests. You can see that ANLCA task force men are there wearing their vests, the same thing with NAGAFF”.
“We in Apapa here, we work together, we don’t work separately and we initiated this issue of withdrawal of services. We decided on weekend last week that we cannot continue like this”.
