The National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Iju Tony Nwabunike has declared that the current National Executive Committe (NECOM) has done marvellously well even though it has not been easy for them.
Speaking at the ongoing National Executive Council (NEC)/Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association holding at Owerri the Imo State capital with the theme: “ANLCA New Normal and the Future”, Nwabunike posited that even though it was not yet time for them to render their score card, “we at NECOM can beat our chest and say that despite numerous challenges, we have done marvellously well.”
He pointed out that the present NECOM had successfully navigated ANLCA ship to the path of sustainable stable voyage adding that they had left no one in doubt of their ability to change the narratives and ensure that ANLCA remained the foremost association in the maritime sector.
He observed that he was aware of the operational challenges members across the nation were facing daily in their places of work assuring that they were working very hard to address them.
“For one, we have gotten assurance from the National Assembly leadership with guarantee of non interference of the parliament in the clearance of cargo.
“For another they have extracted commitment on the part of federal government of Nigeria to open the land borders.
“Owing to the need for the Nigerian business community to maximize the benefits of Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and we have received government assurances for consideration to rescind on border closure.
“ANLCA had reminded the federal government that AfCFTA regime which hopes to take effect from January 2021 with Secretariat in Accra Ghana will place Nigerian businesses at disadvantage if the nation’s land borders remained closed to trade.
“The association therefore secured the assurances of the federal government on the need to effect gradual reopening of the closed borders with particular focus on rules of origin to prevent abuses of incentives like the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS).
“Apart from the fact that Nigeria is losing billions every month, of note is over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs that have been lost so far due to this policy which in our view should have been approached and implemented differently”, he said.
While stating that the main agenda for the Annual General Meeting was the Board of Trustees (BOT) election, he however thanked the outgoing BOT members for serving ANLCA to the best of their abilities even as he wished them well in their future endeavors.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the outgoing Board was elected for six years tenure at the AGM in Warri on the 13th day of February, 2014. In line with Section 854 of CAMA, the tenure of the registered Trustees is effective from the date the Trustees were appointed or elected and terminates a month before the expiration of the Trustees’ tenure to enable the corporate body plan for succession. Relating this to ANLCA, the six tenure of the BOT expired on 12th January, 2020.
“As a matter of fact, a new BOT would have been in place if not for the lockdown occasioned by the Cocid-19 pandemic. I want to admonish you my professional colleagues to be careful as we elect new Trustees. Those to be elected should be those with tested integrity that have the interest of the association at heart”, he stated.
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