*Enjoins Freight Forwarders to Toe the Same Line
The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Adewale Bashir Adeniyi has pat maritime journalists on the back for coming together to form a formidable front.
He noted that it was their coming together as one body that made them to unanimously agree to honour him with a prestigious award.
The NCS helmsman expressed delight that unlike in the past when they could not come together to forge a common front, even when of them, Mr. Ismail Amiemu volunteered to step down as the President of one of the beats associations, the journalists who are covering the maritime sector have discarded their differences to join forces.
He decried the proliferation of associations in the freight forwarding industry just as he enjoined them to emulate the maritime media by coming together as one formidable body.
The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) stated this at Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos recently when he was formally bestowed with the “Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year Award 2024” by Nigerian Maritime Journalists.
The award and dinner night was organized by the maritime media to honour Adeniyi for his exemplary leadership as the helmsman of NCS since his appointment by President Bola Tinubu over a year ago.
According to him, the proliferation of associations among freight forwarding has been giving confusing signals to policy makers. The discordant tunes from the freight forwarders make it difficult for policy makers to consult them on vital policies affecting their profession.
As a way out, the NCS helmsman enjoined the freight forwarding groups to come together and speak with one voice so that government can respect and find it easier to consult them on policies affecting their industry.
His words: “The story of customs agents is similar to that of maritime journalists in terms of proliferation of associations. There are so many discordant tunes coming from the freight forwarders which do not help the policy makers.
“The policy makers want to respect them by consulting them on matters of policies about their profession but the discordant tunes coming from them make it difficult to do so.”
He pleaded with the confraternity of the freight forwarders to come together under one umbrella for them to present unified position to government on matters affecting their industry.
He also charged the former National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu and the Chairman, Customs Consultative Council (CCC), Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju to spearhead the unification drive of the freight forwarding associations, given their vantage positions in the freight forwarding industry.
Maritime Bits had reported that no fewer than five freight forwarding groups which are recognized by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the government regulatory agency in the freight forwarding industry operate in the maritime industry,
These include ANLCA, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (CMDLCA) and Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON).
Maritime Bits had reported that the freight forwarders often accused the government of not carrying them along in some of the policies affecting their profession.
Earlier this month, not a few agitated customs brokers accused NCS of not consulting them before the 4 percent free on board (FOB) charge was imposed on them, a protest which makes the Customs High Command to suspend the fee for enough consultation.
Adeniyi maintained that the maritime media has a lot to gain by presenting a common front in their quest to better their lot in the years ahead.
The Customs Chief said presenting a common front will enable the journalists covering the maritime sector of the economy to access opportunities in the maritime industry and beyond.
He believed that their unification will enable them to access welfare opportunities from stakeholders.
According to the NCS helmsman, there are opportunities which the maritime journalists could assess easily only if they come together under one umbrella. A unified maritime media should be thinking of how to improve their welfare as most of them have paid their dues.
These opportunities include the provision of life insurance packages, housing mortgage so they could have decent accommodations for themselves, as well as training locally and overseas.
He promised to lead a crusade for better welfares for maritime journalists among other heads of government agencies only if they could come together as one body.
He believed that the unification task is possible as the maritime journalists have exemplified it by coming together to honour him.
No fewer than six associations of maritime journalists came together to honour Adeniyi for his impactful leadership which they unanimously agreed was worth celebrating.
These include the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), League of Maritime Editors (LOME), Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON), Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), Online Maritime Media Association of Nigeria (OMMAN) and Congress of Nigerian Maritime Media Practitioners (CONMMEP), as well as those who do not belong to any association.
The high point of the occasion was the presentation of the “Iconic Maritime Personality of the Year 2024”, award to Adeniyi to the loud applause of maritime journalists, top serving and retired NCS officers, licensed customs agents, freight forwarders, friends and well-wishers of the celebrant who graced the occasion.
