The ANLCA President in Burgundy coloured native attire and straw hat and to his left is CAC Dangaladima.
Story by Dili Utomi
The need for engendering unity and cohesion in relation to the day-to-day activities, the calls for proper familiarisation, the imperativeness of educating members about the need to comply with the principles that engender legitimate business and the bid to reach out to some recalcitrant members as well as enlightening the people about the principles for which the association stands have all made the Acting President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Colin Farinto to practically move his secretariat to tour the Murtala Mohammed Airport Customs Command.
At SAHCOL, to the right of Dr. Farinto is Mr. Agbarumen.
The Acting President whose tour activities included a visit to the CAC of the Command DC Dangaladima, the office of the managing director of Skyline Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) and also to the office of the managing director of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) had in his entourage the national secretary of the association, some other members of the executive, members of the board of trustees, the coordinator of the Western zone, the national chairman of the compliant team and some chairmen of some chapters of the association under the Western zone.
The first port of call for the team was the Customs Area Command where the CAC hosted the entourage in the Commands hall. The Acting president Dr. Kayode Colin Farinto got the occasion started after both sides hand introduced the major officers, he thanked the CAC for receiving them as he urged members to increase the level of compliance. He said that the Customs modernization did not start today, but that they should try as much possible to make Customs job easier by making honest declaration, he asked Comptroller Dangaladima to help in training members at the airport Command as he added that they are adding value to the economy of this country.
At NAHCO, to the left if Dr. Farinto is Mr. Obabori.
The CAC, DC Dangaladima on his part went back to memory lane and detailed his career part and the fact that he personally knows everyone in the ANLCA entourage, but most especially the fact that the Acting president is a personal friend of his. CAC Dangaladima urged the Licensed Customs Agents to thread the path of legitimate business and obey the extant laws of the federation, he also promised to give the Agents the necessary support to engender good business relationship as he acknowledged that without the Licensed Customs Agents, the Customs cannot generate revenue. A plaque was presented to the President of ANLCA as a mark of respect and recognition while CAC Dangaladima was also decorated with an ANLCA lapel as a honourary member.
At the SAHCOL, the ANLCA team met with managing director of the company, Mr. Basil Agbarumen and some members of staff. After the formalities of the introduction, the President of ANLCA addressed the audience as he said that SAHCOL is like a home to him and the Association, a local company with an international standard level of principles and service, but still with the toughness to deal with the prevailing local economic circumstances. He commended the company for being exemplary as a terminal operator and the desire to continue to employ Nigerians inspite of it all. Mr. Agbarumen expressed his delight at the caliber of persons visiting the company and expressed his open desire to continue to have symbiotic relationship with the Licensed Customs Agents in particular and all stakeholders in general. He noted that the chairman of the company is a member of the board of trustees of the association and that all the needed support that the company can muster shall be availed to the association.
Back to base. Dr. Farinto and Mr. Bamgbala at the chapter office.
At NAHCO, the entourage met with some members of staff led by the group executive director, business and corporate services, Olusola Obabori. He spoke fervently about the not-so-favourable busines practises and environment and deplored the fact that our neighbouring country, Ghana is taking away businesses because our method of packaging our exports is not of standard and a lot of the export products are rejected in Europe and America. He and his colleagues called for closer collaboration with ANLCA.
The ANLCA president started his reply with a message of consolation to NAHCO over the loss of a long serving staff about a week ago. He agreed that the major problem with our export is packaging and advised that we must do everything possible to shore up our level of export. He expressed his belief that export brings in prosperity to the nation while import mainly brings in poverty as he warned that we should be more vigilant as drug barons now use the airports for the importation of psychotropic substances which has been doing so much damage to our population.
At the end of the tour, the airport chapter chairman of ANLCA, Prince Adewusi Bamgbala granted an interview and he said that the tour was not supposed to have happened because the chapter has a cordial relationship with the Customs and Terminal Operators, but that they thought it wise to invite the national executive to come and meet with these government departments in other to solidify their relationship. On the issue of export, the chairman said that we should redouble our effort towards exporting of local goods in order that we might regain the lost ground and bring back the lost glory. He is delighted that the tour was very fruitful and a great achievement. He also expressed his pleasure that the CAC mentioned a high level of compliance among members, but said that he rates the compliance level higher than the CAC’s 70% to about 90%. He regretted the fact that the cost of aviation fuel is affecting the cost of freight and is causing additional burden to the already weary businesses. He appreciates members and stakeholders for their patience and cooperation.
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