As the two weeks ultimatum given by the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to the licensed customs agents to reconcile their differences with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) or face fresh registration with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) expired last Thursday, the former Public Relations Officer of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC), Mr. David Pius has called on the Minister not to waver in bringing all the freight forwarders under the umbrella of the CRFFN.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Pius maintained that if the Minister should be professionally advised and was able to stand his ground without giving up in his decision to bring the freight forwarders together, that he would succeed in his quest to harmonize all the freight forwarding associations into pursuing one professional goal.
According to him,” If you look at the Act establishing the CRFFN, I feel that CRFFN should have been in a better position to reposition the freight forwarding profession, even though some of us don’t believe that they are freight forwarders as they said they are customs brokers.
“Then if the Minister knows his onion, what I mean by that is that if he can be professionally advised and stand his ground without wavering in his decision to bring the freight forwarders together, I think he will succeed to some extent and that will also harmonize all the associations into one professional goal.
“Also it will enable us to be trained. A lot of us are not trained professionally whether you call yourself customs broker, whether you call yourself freight forwarder, whatever you call yourself, all I know is that all these things are tailored towards one goal and you have to be trained to know your dos and don’ts and once you acquire the necessary training that you needed as a freight forwarder, I believe you can compete your counterparts all over the world”.
He therefore called on the Minister to be firm, provide fund for CRFFN as well as provide an enabling environment for the council to thrive.
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