…Calls for reduction in training fees
The training institutions accredited by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to run its training programmes for both the would be freight forwarders and freight forwarders as well has called on the council to put some measures in place towards making the training programmes attractive to the target audience.
The institutions made this call in an interview with newsmen at the end of the summit organized by the CRFFN for registered Freight Forwarding Associations and Accredited Training institutions in Lagos recently.
The Rector, Emdee Shipping and Maritime College, Mr. Chigozie Chikere noted that the deliberations at the summit had rekindled their resolve to seek for patronage for the programme as well as to prepare for the training.
Chikere observed that after the initial Training of Trainers (TOT) programme organized for the training institutions by the council, they went out to source for students but succeeded in getting none as the would be students complained of high fees.
He therefore advised CRFFN to consider reducing the fees for the training so as to attract the candidates for whom the programme was meant for.
According to him,” what I will advice the CRFFN is for them to cut down the fees for the training for the first set of beneficiaries. Let them provide a kind of soft landing for them so that by the time others now see them and they want to come up, they can now enforce the real fees”.
“For the associations, they should not shy away from the opportunity we are giving them. The individual freight forwarders whether they are individual or corporate, they listen to their association. If they mandate them to go for the training, they will definitely go. So what we are saying is that whether they are using persuasion or aggression, we believe that they are the ones that can move them”.
On his part, the Coordinator, CRFFN/FIATA-Redeemer’s University Professional Partnership Progreamme, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Prof. Olumakinde Odugbemi suggested that CRFFN and the associations should create a purse as well as subsidize the training for the low level agents so that many more could enroll for the programme.
“Based on my interaction with CRFFN, they have a fantastic curriculum and so, one of the things that needed to be done which the Registrar emphasized today is that of more publicity”.
“Secondly, a lot more of financial encouragement to those low level agents whom we want to upgrade to the level of freight forwarders, some of them are earning very low. So, CRFFN and the associations can create a purse and subsidize the training so that many more can come in”, he said.
Also speaking, the Director Transport Technology Centre, Nigeria Institute of Transport (NITT), Engr. Elkanah Ngbale added that if the training has to be effective, CRFFN should do their best to monitor the impact of the training that the training institutions were offering on the industry.
As according to him,” there is no way you will be talking about training just looking at it from the paper perspective but to look at it from what impact it is going to put in those that are in the industry because what those people want is what they will handle practically and how it is going to have impact on them”.
“If they know exactly what they are losing in terms of what they are doing because of lack of training, they will come out and willingly give themselves to training”.
