…Wants Ukor’s position as founder respected
The founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has called on the principal actors in the crisis rocking a sister association, the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) to sheath their sword and unite for the good and progress of the association.
Aniebonam who made this call in Lagos on Friday when the interim National Executive and some Elders of the association paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of NAGAFF also wants Dr. Frank Ukor’s position as the founder of the association alongside two others; Mr. Innocent Elum and Mr. Ejike Metu respected.
He commended the leadership and membership of the association for toeing the path of peace in the ensuing crisis while encouraging them to show respect for one another and shun bickering.
In his words,” Mr. President has told us that every matter has been resolved in relation to AREFFN but I just listened now when in the course of introduction, when Mr. President, after introducing himself as President, Frank Ukor came and said Dr. Frank Ukor, that was what he said and Mr. President said founder, no comment. Let there be no grave silent, we must be one or we are not.
“Now, AREFFN, Frank as the founder is my contemporary together with Elum and the other guy but he is the main man. It takes a lot for you to earn honour. From the structure of NAGAFF, the founder of NAGAFF is the number one man; the founder of NAGAFF is an unwritten constitution, what I say as the founder of NAGAFF is law. The second man in NAGAFF is the Chairman Board of Trustees; the third person is the President who is in charge of Administration of NAGAFF and down the line.
“At the time you people were into all these bickering, I was just laughing. I thank God for you people that you decided to call yourselves to order, you can’t gain anything from fighting yourselves, you will only destroy yourselves. I am advising that Frank be accorded the honour of being the founder of AREFFN so that I will even have a brother and you people will now move on because what you people are doing is something that if you are not careful, you will just extinguish your association, you will just exit abruptly.
“The truth of the matter is that your coming here is the beginning of good things to come to you people because with your attitude, AREFFN is becoming a headache to all of us that is now making NAGAFF and ANLCA to be getting closer and we are ever determine to see what we can do that you people will on your own fizzle out because democracy has allowed you to exist but since you are going the way you are going, Innocent Elum firing from the Seme border and all that, while you are doing that, you are showing government that something is wrong with these people and definitely government will not take you people serious.
“And if you are not careful, election is coming, by the time NAGAFF and ANLCA get into that place alone and you are not there, I am telling you that Council will cause an action and will deregister all of you. But the sky is too large to contain all of us; all of us need to be there.
“Then for Chidi, slow down your writing prowess, stop writing, no matter how you are provoked, don’t write, so also Frank. I was telling you when we were discussing that these two people can bring down this organization, then another person is Innocent Elum. So, you now see Innocent, you see Chidi, you see Frank, so, all of them, every time, they are holding pen like this. That is not the way to go. God will see you people through”.
Earlier in his opening speech, the interim National President AREFFN, Alhaji Bala Lawan Daura thanked the leadership of NAGAFF for according them the honour of having them in their national headquarters adding that the entourage was at NAGAFF to further the coast of relationship that had existed between the two sister associations.
He informed the gathering that the crisis that earlier engulfed the association has been tackled hence their resolve to work together as a team to take the association to a greater height and make it the envy of all.
Also speaking, the former National President of AREFFN and Chairman Board of Trustees (BOT), Dr. Frank Ukor thanked the NAGAFF family for welcoming them into their midst and for accepting them adding that the association had challenges just like every other association had challenges describing it as natural that every venture that would succeed would have a teething problem.
“I see the challenges that we are having now as a teething problem, we can manage it but I still want to use this opportunity to say that we are going to address it. I want to assure you that with what we heard here today, we are going to go back and work so that we can be as strong as NAGAFF even become stronger than NAGAFF”, he said.
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