The crisis rocking the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) recently took a new twist as the National Secretary of the association; Mr. Chidi Anthony Opara resigned his position as the National Secretary as well as his membership of the association.
Opara in a letter dated 11th May, 2020 and addressed to the Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT) of the association, Mr. Ejike Metu and copied to the National President of the association, Alhaji Bala Lawan Daura and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) said that his resignation which was with immediate effect from the date of the letter was based on personal reasons.
The letter reads, “I am hereby tendering my resignation as National Secretary and member of the association for personal reasons, with immediate effect from the date of this letter.
“As you are aware, I am based in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, so all the properties of the association which are in the National Secretariat are in the custody of the Chief of Staff to the President.
“I will in due course present my out of pocket expenses for refund.”
This development came to many industry watchers as a surprise as they could not understand what must have led Mr. Chidi Anthony Opara, who is believed to be a close ally of the National President of the association to undertake such action.
However, there are indications that the resignation followed skirmishes they had earlier at the Freight Forwarders’ Consultative Forum where he (Opara) claimed that he was illegally removed from.
He said, “My purported removal from the Freight forwarders’ Consultative Forum (FFCF) is null and void and to no effect. As National Secretary of a CRFFN accredited association, I am by the instrument that created FFCF a member of the body. I remain a member of FFCF and will continue to oppose illegalities in any form.”
“I am in possession of information that AREFFN President, Bala Lawan Daura and his master, Chief Henry Njoku of ANLCA are planning to illegally remove me as the National Secretary because of my opposition to certain illegalities. My well-wishers should remain calm and await further developments as such an illegal removal will not stand.
Speaking on his actual reasons for resignation, the former National Secretary said, “Members of the media, public and friends who have been demanding details of reasons for my resignation should exercise patience. There is disquiet in the freight forwarding sector right now because of my resignation and I do not want to add to the tension.”
Attempts to get the reaction of the National President of the association on this development were unsuccessful as he lines were not going through as at the time of filing this report.
Photo: Former National Secretary, AREFFN, Mr. Chidi Anthony Opara.
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1 Comment
The subject of this story, Chidi Anthony Opara resigned his position and association membership on the 11th of May, 2020. The trustees said they queried him on 16th May, 2020, five days after he resigned!
They said that they rejected his resignation just so that he would answer the query! Just that? Is that reason tangible enough? Was he an employee?
Anyway, they “removed” and “expelled” him on 1st June, 2020, nearly a month after he has resigned from position and membership of the association, just for refusing to answer a query issued after he has resigned!