… Says we are ready to train freight forwarders free of charge
The immediate past Chairman of the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni, yesterday emerged the Chairman of the Governing Board for the second time.
Tsanni emerged as Chairman following the inauguration of the CRFFN Governing Board by the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in a brief ceremony in Abuja with Chief Henry Njoku emerging for the second time as the Vice Chairman of the Council.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, over a year ago, appointed the 17 government representatives in the Council and after so many months of bickering, the freight forwarders converged in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt on March 9, 2022 to elect their 15 representatives in the 32 member Governing Board.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Primetime Reporters on Thursday, Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni assured that the Council under him, was ready to work for the freight forwarders and give them all the necessary support than it did in the past.
He maintained that the Council under him would sanitize the freight forwarding business and make the envy of all among all its peers in the logistics and transport supply chains.
According to him, “We are ready to protect all their interest in terms of their business. How do we support them to make sure that they succeed Where they are having all these problems with the shipping companies, terminal operators, customs and all that, we are ready to enter in-between to make sure that they succeed in whatever challenge that they have. This time around, our focus is in solving that problem by God’s grace.”
The CRFFN Governing Council Chairman disclosed that the Council was ready to train freight forwarders free of charge as they don’t need to pay anything, even as he insisted that that was the essence of the 35% deduction from the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) to train the freight forwarders.
“The essence of 35% deduction from the POF is to train the freight forwarders. As long as we continue with the collection of the POF, the training will be free, we don’t need to charge anybody because one of our basic intentions is to see that before you become a freight forwarder, you must have a certain qualification unlike what obtains now where everybody will just carry their bag from their village and come and say they are freight forwarders.
So, we must have a certain qualification in the freight forwarding industry before you become a freight forwarder. That is why we are partnering with the University of Lagos, you have the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology and many other Universities that are offering freight forwarding courses.We will continue to train people. That qualification is mandatory and very soon, we are going to start issuing ID Cards such that without that ID card, you will not have access to the port talk more of doing any business in the port.
“So, CRFFN, as you are doing registration, they are issuing ID card to you and that is why we are working with the Ministry of Transportation and NPA to make sure we make that possible”, he added.
On plans to change the perception of freight forwarders against the CRFFN, he said, “By the time you are doing what is right for them, by the time you are supporting them to overcome their challenges, by the time you enter where they have problem with customs, shipping companies, terminal operators and all that, you will see that all of them will come back and listen to you but when they have problem and nobody, as a matter of fact, CRFFN, they cannot take their complain to them, now they will see that they are having problem. But when they have somewhere to take their problems to and that authority is doing her best to assist them in resolving their problems, you will see that all that one will go.
“So, this time around, we are ready to give them all the necessary support. Therefore, this time around, I will be 70 to 75 percent in Lagos so that we can listen to them more and also attend to them and we are going to continue to have town hall meetings where we will continue to listen to their problems and offering solutions at least once in a month or quarterly.
“We will continue to have town hall meeting and we will empower the Freight Forwarders Consultative Forum to listen more to the freight forwarders and get advice from the major stakeholders. We will have a lot of engagements with the freight forwarders where we will listen to advice from them and other stakeholders alike in the maritime industry. We will carry everybody along to see to see that we push the freight forwarding business ahead by God’s grace.
“This time around, we are really ready to work and we are really ready to give them all the necessary support.”
Photo: Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni, Chairman, Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
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