The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Onne chapter, Chief Ifeanyi Isikaku has assured that the National President of the association, Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji will set up a reconciliation Committee to reconcile all interest and grievances following the outcome of the just concluded elections that cut across all the chapters of the association.
Isikaku who gave this assurance while fielding questions from journalists shortly before his inauguration in Lagos recently, stated that the reconciliation efforts is imperative to ensure that ANLCA remainsed one, indivisible association.
According to him, “To me, ANLCA has come to stay. A man born since 1954 is now a grandfather and there’s nothing that can break ANLCA. Sometimes, issues of election will come and go but reconciliation will take effect immediately.
“So, I believe that the National President will set up a reconciliation Committee for all chapters of ANLCA to reconcile everybody and make sure that ANLCA remains as one body.”
The Chairman who did not hide his joy over his emergence as a chapter Chairman after a rigorous electioneering process said, “We are here today to be inaugurated and I am happy to have emerged as Chairman.”
Continuing, he said, ”The essence of winning an election is not winner takes it all, it’s to make sure that everybody is being carried along and after this, we all know that it’s governance and governance entails making sure that all members of ANLCA is being carried along and making sure that people come and do their work seamlessly.”
On what he intends to do differently at the chapter, Isikaku said, “In Onne chapter, we have a better secretariat than this (National Secretariat) because Onne always set the pace and I have in mind to start a 500 seater capacity hall so that it can contain our members. What we have presently is a 100- seater capacity but we are going to build a 500 seater capacity hall with a hotel that will have about 20 – 30 rooms so that our members can lodge in it at a discounted rate each time they finish work late.
“We are also going to get a bus for our members. We have a bus already which cannot contain everybody. So, we are getting another, we will also get shuttle buses.
“In terms of welfare of our members, we are also going to set up a Committee that is going to be in charge of welfare. That committee will make sure that our members who are sick will be reported to us, those who have one issue or the other, will be reported to us. So, it is the work of the committee that we are going to set up.
“We are going to institute health insurance policy whereby our members will be able to access hospitals and treat themselves whenever they are sick. Many things we proposed to do but these are the few ones that I can list now apart from making sure that our goods are cleared within 48 hours from the ports.”
Asked what his disposition would be towards those that contested the office with him, he said, “After the election, we were about five people that contested for Chairman in Onne and we called them all together because everybody cannot be Chairman. Bring your ideas, come onboard, we will sit down and discuss. And we are ready to also call for a meeting immediately after the inauguration. Anybody who has a different idea should bring it to us so that we can integrate him and work together.”
Speaking on what the relationship between his administration and the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS at the chapter would be, Isikaku stated, “ANLCA as a body has an existing relationship that cuts across all customs formations. What we are coming to do is to build on those existing relationships which we know that there’s nothing new that you are going to tell the customs about ANLCA that they don’t know already. So, what we are coming to do is to build on that relationship that is already existing.”
On the new B’Odogwu platform introduced by customs for cargo clearing, he said, “This is not the first time customs is introducing a new model of clearance. If you can remember, in this industry, they came with ASYCUDA, NICIS I, NICIS ll and we have been working with those ones. So, whichever model that they are coming up with, I believe that the agents know how to move around it.
“So, we are not new to it, no agent is afraid of whatever customs is coming up with. Our own duty is to make sure that we train our members in whichever model that the customs is bringing, we should be ready to absorb it.”
Photo: Chief Ifeanyi Isikaku, Chairman, ANLCA, Onne chapter.
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