The federal government has commissioned the Kano Zonal office of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN with a call on the management of the Council to deploy more energy into completing other ongoing projects.
The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye who made this call in Abuja recently, observed that the commissioning signified the resolve of the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari in its determination to expand the participation of littoral and non littoral states in maritime and general logistics.
Adegoroye posited that whereas there were lots of inter-modal transport activities in and around the city of Kano, which now also have a dry port, the need to promote professionalism, entrench global best practices and develop the capacity of freight forwarding practitioners in that area cannot be over-emphasized, hence the policy of having zonal offices in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He noted that the Federal Ministry of Transportation was, therefore, optimistic about the immense benefits and wider impact the CRFFN office would have apart from promoting the profession of freight forwarding through training and certification.
According to him, “The commissioning of this office will further encourage safe, timely, sustainable and environmentally friendly movement of cargoes using the road and rail modes. It will also help in expanding the list of certified freight forwarding professionals whose impact will be felt all over the country and beyond our shores using their acquired expertise to leverage on the opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“At this juncture, I want to specially commend the Governing Council and Management of CRFFN for achieving this feat and urge that it be utilized maximally for all its activities including increasing revenue generation through the collection of Practitioners Operating Fee (POF).
“Worthy of mention is the capacity of the council management team to see to the completion of this project. I hereby request that more energy be deployed into completing the other ongoing projects.”
While reassuring the council of the Ministry’s unflinching support at all times in promoting every action geared towards national interest and economic sustainability, the Minister said, “The President’s resolve to grow the Nigerian economy is strengthened by various actions and structures put in place to encourage productivity. This new zonal office is another testament to the fact.
“While thanking the Kano State Government and other agencies for their support to various Federal Government initiatives, especially those under the purview of the Ministry, I request more robust cooperation with the CRFFN in all areas that may be required from time to time.”
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani noted that the CRFFN has been training and certifying freight forwarders in Diploma and Higher Diploma in about six Federal Universities across the country.
Ajani, however, encouraged all freight forwarders to seize the opportunities of CRFFN’s training and retraining programme to boost their business and professionalism adding that “this is the core mandate of CRFFN to all freight forwarders in Nigeria.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of CRFFN, Barr. Samuel Nwakohu described the commissioning as a landmark event in the history of the council to save cost from rented apartment, create better working environment and in line with the council’s policy of owning and operating from its own structures.
Nwakohu added that the Zonal office was one way of bringing the council closer to the people and making it serve the national economic interest in line with global best practices without compromising the law even as he further described freight forwarding as a noble profession with the potentials of driving the non-oil economy among other things.
“This zonal office is strategic being in a commercial capital of North Western Nigeria. The office will ensure total logistics integration to achieve our overall objective.This complex has an admin block, a conference centre for capacity building, meeting rooms, warehouse, lodge, ICT centre and other supporting facilities that makes it conducive for work”, he said.
The Registrar, however, assured that CRFFN remained focused in her determination to entrench professionalism, promote freight logistics efficiency and improve Nigeria’s ranking on the Logistics Performance index.
In response to a request from the Minister earlier, he said, “We are committed to the completion of other ongoing projects across the country in full preparation of Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA), especially in the cross border logistics service provision and no geo-political zone will be left behind.
“We therefore, enjoin all practitioners to take full advantage of our presence here to build capacity by way of training and leveraging on our national and international logistics networks and alliances.”
Commending the Federal Ministry of Transportation for its efforts in making the project a reality, the Chairman Board of CRFFN, Alhjai Abubkar Tsanni noted that the Zonal office will make work and business easier for freight forwarders who work at the Northern areas.
Photo: (L-R): Barr. Samuel Nwakohu, Registrar/CEO of CRFFN, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, Minister of State for Transportation, a representative of the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje and Dr. Mrs. Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation during the commissioning of the CRFFN Kano Zonal office recently.
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