A group of nine, contesting membership of the Board of Trustees, BoT of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA have listed a 6-point agenda they intend to pursue if voted into office.
The group which includes Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, Kingsley Offor, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Utai, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, Adeola Mummuney, Chief Sunday Momoh, Tunde Awonuga and Chief Dennis Okafor on Monday in Lagos announced that its campaign programme is aimed at radically transforming the professional image of the association, and said their programmes will be vigorously pursued.
The Group of 9 represented by Alhaji Taiwo and Chief Dayo Azeez disclosed that what attracted them to each other is their like mindedness to serve ANLCA with all their heart and resources, as a way of giving back to a profession from which they have earned a living and gained tremendously from.
According to the Group of 9, the time has come for a number of professional issues to be given a second look and reviewed, to bring the customs brokerage profession to internal standard.
Top on the list is the proposed chartering of the customs brokerage practice, a review of the Council of Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN and the demand for one percent commission of the total revenue collection made on behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service.
On the indigenization of customs brokerage and clearing licenses, the Group of 9 said, it would promote a bill in the National Assembly to push for the lawful indigenization policy.
“What would happen under this Board would be a diligent move to persuade the National Assembly to treat customs brokers as specialised services, it could be a clause or a sentence that would state that the domiciliary of the affairs of customs agents must be indigenous only, this is what was done in Ghana, Benin Republic and Ivory Coast.”
The representatives of the group of contestants for the ANLCA BoT election explained that the lack of the policy has caused certain sense of unease among local practitioners. They assured that as soon as the chartering is achieved, fears about foreigners taking over jobs will fade away as every broker would have the full advantage of the opportunities that exists in the profession.
“For those of us who are afraid that foreigners have taken over our jobs, have we made moves? How many of our people are doing this job the way it is supposed to be done? It’s not just to bear the name ‘clearing agent’, it is your ability to sell your specialty that matters, as long as we fail to do the right thing, foreigners would continue to take our jobs.
“How do you get a job? It depends on where your specialty lies, some of us today are doing jobs for foreigners, that is, jobs owned by foreigners, do you know why? It’s because our job is an international trade. In CAMA (Companies and Allied Matters Act), once you have a Nigerian registered company, that company must have a Nigerian onboard, that is what the law says. Once you have a limited liability company and you wish to go into customs brokerage, nobody would shut the door against you.
“So, this group is determined to pursue the indigenization policy such that every member of ANLCA and the entire customs brokerage family, clearing and forwarding industry can have a greater sense of fulfillment. This agenda is dear to our heart and we will not rest until we kick start the process, because we believe that only ANLCA can do this for Nigeria.”
On the circle of ‘like minds’ as the rallying point of the group of nine, they explained that ANLCA can only progress and make impact that is both beneficial to members, the industry and nation at large if there is peace and harmony, unity and stability between the Board and the National Executive.
The push and desire to have both organs of authority in ANLCA to operate within its statutory confine, the group says is needed now more than any other time; noting that this NECOM must be shielded from all attacks and distractions.
“One of the things that brings us together is that cliché, “Like Minds”, this goes a long way. It is only when we have like minds that we can progress; that we would be able to work and do things for ANLCA that those who are not of “Like Minds” are likely not to think about at all.
“So, the nine people on our team are of like minds, and many of them have worked with us and survived all the intrigues in ANLCA till today. This group of men is needed to protect and secure ANLCA a future for the younger generation”, the group said.
On the possibility of securing a percentage commission on the total revenue collected by customs brokers and clearing and forwarding agents, the group of 9 said it is a must do agenda; noting that even though it does not yield immediate result, at least they will initiate the struggle and leave a solid structure for its realization on ground.
“Let me tell you, we know how difficult it will be because the people in the National Assembly that are supposed to make it into law are more interested in other issues. There is nobody who works for the federal government that does not receive commission. Whether it’s a contract, whether it’s supply services, or even in teaching.
“In the customs books there is something called one percent CISS charge, it is a commission. We have sat down to think about this issue of one percent, but it is easier said than done. It is true that we want the one percent, but the CGC of Customs cannot on his own, decide that he wants to start giving us. So part of our agenda is push through the National Assembly for it to be part of the law, it is achievable if we kick-start it, even if we don’t achieve it in our time, another Board can achieve it; but we want to kick-start the process.
“Today, we have a sitting Customs CG who listens to us, and this is a better time to kick-start it. For the eight years administration of the former Customs CG, Hameed Ali, even we as agents never saw him in the day to day activities of our job, he did something that previous CGC’s were unable to achieve, he ensured that every Controllers of customs going on retirement is given a Toyota Corolla, a driver, and a benefits. The ACG goes home with one car and one jeep, the DCG goes home with one jeep, one car and one pick-up truck, this is running till today. Ali was able to take it to the National Assembly and he achieved it.
“The benefits started from his tenure as CG and doesn’t affect those that have preceded him. These benefits are renewable every four years until the officer dies. Any officer that doesn’t want to go with these packages can decide to trade it off and collect cash. It took Hameed Ali six years pursuing this in the National Assembly before he could get it done. So, if we are able to work with Wale Adeniyi, no matter how long it takes us, I believe we would get it done. We are not asking for anything extraordinary, it is just one percent of whatever you are able to declare in a year.
“If a company is able to declare 1,000 SGD’s in a year and it is on the system that you cumulatively generated revenue of say One Billion Naira to the federal government, one percent of this money is paid back to you. This could also be converted into profit to ANLCA as individuals would give back to the association”, the group submitted.
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