The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ANLCA

  • Agents complain of ‘low business’

    The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Idiroko border is unhappy with what it calls “low business”.

    Its Chairman, Mr Timothy Ayokunle Abel, said smuggling at the border was killing business.

    He said: “The border is virtually operating at snail speed due to the porosity of the area. Furthermore, most of the revenue yielding cargoes and imported vehicles are being divided to bush part through the aid of security agencies. This has an unsalutary effect on revenue generation from the command.”

  • ‘Corruption, infrastructure deficit bane of Maritime’

    Corruption and infrastructural challenge have been identified as the bane of the shipping and clearing arm of the maritime sector.

    According to the Chief Executive Officer, Best AirCargo and Shipping Services Limited, Mr Jerry Jay, the resolution of these issues would see shipping and clearing making huge contributions to the economy.

    Speaking when he visited the headquarters of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Jay told The Nation that he came home to establish a branch of his company in response to President Goodluck Jonathan’s appeals that Nigerians in the Diaspora should bring home their businesses and expertise to help build the country.

    He, regretted that the government has failed to provide basic infrastructure and tackle corruption.

    “Nigerians in the Diaspora have the expertise, resources and connection that can help develop this country but the country is being strangulated by corruption, policy inconsistency, poor infrastructure and other evils. These discourage them,” he said.

    He said in China, the government builds houses and makes other provisions for its citizens in the Diaspora who were willing to relocate and invest in China while in Nigeria there was no form of encouragement, no matter what you want to do.

    Jay said having stayed in Asia for 16 years, he has gained enough expertise that would enable him bring about a positive change in shipping and cargo clearing in Nigeria, but he was afraid because of too much corruption and infrastructural decay at the ports. He said, there was no port in Nigeria that compares to what is obtained in Asia.

    “In China or Hong Kong, you can have your container released to you in two hours once it arrives the port and this is at a cost equivalent of between N5,000 and N10,000 whereas in our ports, for your container to be released, it takes several days to weeks and costs several hundreds of thousands of naira or more than a million naira in some cases, despite the President’s effort at reformation.

    “In Asia, everything works systematically and you can plan successfully. But here, there are lots of policy somersaults; things are not organised for sustainable growth and most Nigerians in the Diaspora find it difficult to cope with this kind of system after experiencing the best way things are done in other countries,” he said.

    On shipping in Nigeria and Asia, Jay said there was no basis for comparison. “In Nigeria, there is no good equipment at the ports, there is no stability or continuity of policies whereas in Asia, the economy, the currency and every other thing is planned and this is what investors want to plan their businesses. It is not easy to set up anything in Nigeria because there is no reliable system in place.”

  • Renew Dikko’s tenure, govt urged

    Freight Forwarders have urged President Goodluck Jonathan to reappoint the Controller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Inde Dikko, for a second term.

    The Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (CMDLCA), the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN) and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), in a statement, said Dikko deserves more time to enable him to “put finishing touches to his laudable programmes”.

    Dikko’s tenure will end next month when he would have served four years, but stakeholders want him to continue.

    CMDLCA’s Seme Chapter Chairman, Charles Thomas, said: “Dikko has taken the Customs Service to a height that would have been impossible to attain in 50 years without his enterprise, passion, zeal, focus, professionalism and dedication, but he needs some more time, at least, one year more, to round off some of his programmes.

    AREFFN’s National Vice-President, Innocent Elum, said: “I know that Dikko has served four years and he has done very well; no doubt about that. But I know also that there are things he still needs to put in place, or fine-tune. He needs more time to do that. Service rushed is service crushed. I call on President Goodluck Jonathan to give him another four years.”

    Chairman ANLCA, Seme Chapter, Patrick Ozobialu, said Dikko, a Russian-trained economist, has “brought blessings” to NCS.He said Dikko has modernised the servive and and projected it for international relevance and recognition, adding that the CG has boosted the morale of the officers and men, as well as introduced training programme for all.

    He said the NCS helmsman is partnering anti-corruption agencies, especially the EFCC, to fight corruption in the ports. He appealed to the President to give him more time “so, we can tap more from his good ideas”.

  • ‘Explore opportunities in free trade zones’

    ‘Explore opportunities in free trade zones’

    The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Prince Olayiwola Shittu has called on stakeholders in the maritime sector to utilise investment opportunities at the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) across the country.

    The ANLCA chief made the call while speaking with The Nation, last week.

    Shittu stressed that the free trade zones are suitable for port development, ship building and repairs, as well as offshore logistcs and support activities.

    Speaking on the opportunities of the zone, Shittu said that the population of Nigeria is about 150 million and that of the surrounding West African economic community is about 500 million.

    But the local industry, he said, is fragile and more than 90 per cent of the products rely on import, so the market potential is considerable; the second, he said, is the favourable export advantages.

    According to him, Nigeria is a signatory state of the Lome Convention. So, the products made in Nigeria are entitled to exporting to Europe and the United States, enjoying no quota restrictions and low tariff.

    He also urged the Federal Government to institute policies such as tax holidays and duty exemptions for materials used in the ship making/repair industry.

    Shittu said Nigeria would benefit immensely from such policies due to the large number of ships that berth at its seaports yearly.

    He said the nation’s maritime sector provides enormous wealth and employment opportunities.

    “Nigeria is a coastal state. The advantages of her coastline and integrated road network from the southern belt connecting the seaports and oil terminals of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Bonny and Brass to the northern frontiers of the country presents a solution to the demands of cargo traffic and logistics needs of inland countries which share land mass with Nigeria and her coastal neighbouring states,” he said.

    According to him, Nigeria’s 900 nautical miles coastline provides enormous opportunities for its citizens.

     

  • ANLCA, CRFFN end feud

    The feud between the Association of Nigeria LicensedCustoms Agents (ANLCA) and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has been resolved, The Nation has gathered.

    The problem started when ANLCA National President Prince Olayiwola Shittu resigned from the council, following the approval granted CRFFN by the Federal Government to collect transaction fees at seaports, airports, and land borders.

    The crisis generated by the approval forced the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, to rescind his decision and directed the council to stop the collection of the fees from port operators.

    The charges approved by government then, include, N1.50 per kilometre for air cargo, N1,000 per 20 ft container, N2,000 per 40 ft container, N500 per car/jeep, N1,000 per truck or 20ft equivalent, N2,000 per truck or 40ft equivalent, N3.50 per tonnes for general cargo and N1.00 per tonnes for dry bulk cargo.

    But the ANLCA chief told said on Friday that the group has decided to give peace a chance based on the intervention of the Acting Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello and meetings they held with the Registrar of CRFFN; Sir Mike Jukwe, to resolve the crisis.

    Some grounds, he said, have been shifted by the ‘feuding parties’ to end the crisis.

    “We have been meeting with the Registrar of CRFFN and I have no doubt that we shall resolve all the areas of conflict,” he said.

    He said the highest hierarchy of ANLCA has endorsed the terms of agreement and assured that the crisis with the CRFFN will ended to promote port business.

  • ANLCA kicks against extension of service providers’ contracts

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) is mobilising its members against the extension of service providers’ contracts at the seaports, it has emerged.

    Sources close to the group told The Nation that the association’s leadership has directed its members at the sea-ports and borders to withdraw their services, if the Federal Government extends the firms’ contracts beyond June.

    The group, a source said, took the decision when it learnt that the six-month extension is the first step towards renewing the service providers’ contracts either “as Destination Inspection or Pre-Shipment Inspection agents.”

    ANLCA, the source said, is worried about the amount of money the service providers are making compared to their services.

    The operation took the position after a four-man delegation from the World Bank visited the terminal operators and shipping companies and got an impression that the Customs is a haven of corruption.

    It was, however, gathered that the freight forwarders supported the Customs to take over the scheme because the inspection agents have not lived up to the terms of their contracts.

    “The delegates were like advisers to the Federal Government. They asked probing questions on if Customs can take over because obviously they have some information at their dispossal, but we have told them that if the Federal Government refuses to terminate the contract, we will shut the port by July 1,” the source said.

    Also, ANLCA, it was learnt, has vowed that it would not negotiate with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN until the case with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) is excluded.

    ANLCA National President Prince Olayiwola Shittu told The Nation that ANLCA is appreciative of moves to resolve the face-off, but is insisting on ICPC clearing the association’s leaders before any reconciliation.

    The Acting Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mr Hassan Bello, had appealed to ANLCA to work towards the early resolution of the crisis. He made the appeal when he received Shittu and other leaders who ANLCA visited him at the Council’s corporate head office in Apapa, Lagos.

    But, Shittu insisted that since CRFFN took ANLCA to ICPC, there cannot be any discussion until the issues raised are sorted out.

    “They reported us to ICPC, but there cannot be any further discussion until the ICPC issues are resolved. We didn’t go there. They did.” Shittu said.

  • ANLCA threatens terminal operators

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has threatened to shut the seaports, unless terminal operators resolved the alleged increase in some charges on imported goods.

    The decision to close the ports was reached at a meeting of ANLCA’s trustees, national executives as well as chairmen and secretaries of chapters in the Western zone, last week.

    Ii was gathered that the association agreed that a four-member committee, comprising the secretary of the Board of Trustees; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, Apapa Chapter Chairman; Comrade John Ofobike, Chairman, Tin Can Chapter; Mr Kayode Farinto Collins and secretary of the association’s Presidential Compliance Committee; Chief Isdore Martins Agoha was constituted to interface with the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN).

    The group, sources said, was mandated to write to the chairman of STOAN to resolve the issue or face its wrath.

  • Agency stopped from collecting ports fee as Customs kicks

    Agency stopped from collecting ports fee as Customs kicks

    The Federal Government has barred the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) from collecting transaction fees at the ports.

    The order followed a protest letter by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullah Inde, to the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar.

    The government gave CRFFN the green-light to collect the fees about two months ago.

    In the September 25 letter, signed by T. A. Musa, on Inde’s behalf, the Customs chief said: “The service is of the opinion that the charges will no doubt cause delays in the clearance of goods at the port, thereby, leading to port congestion. Its implementation will also increase the cost of doing business with its attendant implication on the cost of goods and services.”

    The Nation learnt that the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) also sent a similar letter to the minister.

    Confirming the suspension of the approval, CRFFN accused the Customs of seeking to continue to benefit from what it called freight forwarders’ ignorance.

    Chairman of its Governing Council Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju, accused Customs of sponsoring the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) to kick against the collection of the fees which the CRFFN intended to use to train and professionalise freight forwarders.

    He said: “I was so shocked at the management of the Nigeria Customs which was the first organisation we visited when we started and asked for their collaboration on training. I believe the Nigeria Customs does not want us to grow, they still want to benefit from our ignorance which we want to stop, we want to do freight forwarding as it is being done in the whole world”.

    According to him, the Customs has been issuing licences to clearing agents over the years, but it has not been making any effort to train them.

    “This is why they call most of our people touts, but we don’t want to be touts anymore, we want to be of international best practices because 70 per cent of our jobs have been taken over by foreigners,” Olanrewaju said.

    But ANLCA president Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, denied the allegation that the association is being used by Customs to scuttle the CRFFN deal.

    Shittu said members of the CRFFN Governing Council are occupying offices illegally, adding that their tenure expired on August 14.

    According to Shittu, members of the Governing Council had allegedly extended their tenure for another six months. He said any decision taken by the Governing Council after the said expiration of their tenure is null and void.

    He said: “It is statutory in the Act which established the Council that all elected members have a four year tenure. For this reason the tenure of the elected members of the Council has since expired on August 14, 2012. We are also aware that the Registrar, Mr Mike Jukwe has informed the Minister of Transport in writing in that regard. It is also a fact that the Council members have extended their tenure without the support of members of the Freight Forwarders Consultative Council Forum and the general congress of the registered members. Let us at this time make it clear that our Council administration is in breach by the activities of our Council members.”

    He alleged that CRFFN accredited the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) and the National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC), so that they can vote for it on critical issues.

    The accreditation of AREFFN, NCMDLCA and NAFFAC, he said was illegal since the meeting where they were accredited was held after the expiration of the tenure of the Governing Council.

    But a member of the CRFFN Governing Board and National President of the Institute of Freight Forwarding of Nigeria (IFFN), Dr. Zeb Ikokide, said the tenure of the members of the Governing Council has not expired.

    Ikokide said the council members’ tenure would expire next month.

  • ANLCA opposes CRFFN fee collection

    The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) has condemned the approval given to the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) by the Minister of Transport to collect practising fees at the ports.It threatened to shut down the ports.

    Its president, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, has resigned his membership of CRFFN to back his association’s demand.

    Speaking with The Nation in his office, Shittu said ANCLA opposed the collection of practising fees by the CRFFN because “it is inimical to the growth of the association and will render the association penniless.”

    The ANLCA chief said to show faith with his constituency, he has resigned his membership from the council.

    “I can not carry out this fight and remain in the council, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

    He said ANLCA had sent a letter to the CRFFN rejecting the offer by the council to give the association some amount yearly instead of giving it a percentage of the collected money.

    “We are not giving them any option. We will also write to the minister telling him of our own interpretation of transaction fees and why we object to it.

    “The fourth is that we shall go to court; we will take CRFFN to court and if the government goes ahead to enforce the dues collection we will shut down the ports,” Shittu said.