Story by Dili Utomi.
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has held an emergency national executive committee (ENEC) meeting where a litany of issues were discussed and very far reaching and firm decisions were taken.
The meeting which took place at the prestigious Marriott hotel Ikeja saw a collection of executive members from most units from across all the zones of the federation. The meeting follows the inauguration of the Board of Trustees on the previous night and the filling of positions within the BOT where Mr. Taiwo Afolabi emerged the Chairman of the Board.
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ANLCA president with some of the BOT members at the ENEC meeting.
In his opening address, the national president of the association, Honourable Iju Tony Nwabunike spoke briefly, concisely and passionately about a some issues. He spoke about the objective of repositioning the association, the amendment of the Constitution, the task given to the disciplinary committee headed by the Association’s vice president, the recent attack on the Secretariat of the association and the election and inauguration of the BOT as he urged the Board members to stand up and be recognised.
The national secretary of the association, Mr. Abdulazeez Babatunde Mikhail read the minutes of the last national executive committee meeting held at their National Secretariat as he highlighted the decisions that were taken on that day. He pointed out the conciliatory moves made by the President to forgive all warring opponents and his wish that they embrace peace.
The highlight of the ENEC meeting was the address by the Chairman of the disciplinary committee and the Vice President of the Association, Dr. Collin Kayode Farinto. Dr. Farinto presented four disciplinary reports on various disciplinary issues concerning some members. The reports dealth with issues regarding the conducts of members like Temitope Akindele, Ernest Elochukwu, John Offorbike, Bayo Oyekan, Joe Adumaza Sanni, Taiye Oyeniyi, Taiwo Mustapha and Dennis Okafor.
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Members listening to the speech by the president.
At the end of the reports, suspension was variously recommended for some of the offending members, but then member after member spoke about taking much more tougher and decisive action of expelling some of the recalcitrant members this suggestion was immediately put to vote. In the end, the house voted 42 in favour of expelling some of the members with 7 persons voting for the suspension of the erring members and against expulsion.
It therefore followed that Temitope Akindele of Green Star Nigeria Limited, Adumaza Joe Sanni of Multimodal Logistics Limited, Taiwo Mustapha of Pyramid Associates Limited, Taye Oyeniyi of MacMary Nigeria Limited, Henry Elochukwu of Nestilo Global Limited, John Albert Offorbike of Salim Nigeria Limited, Bayo Oyekan of Bailey International Agency were all expelled from the Association. Others expelled were Gideon Nwagbaraocha of Chidiugo Nigeria Limited and Osita Okwuluchi of Owelle Ventures bringing the total number of expelled members to 9. Their offences according to the national secretary included instituting at least 10 different court cases among so many other acts considered to be inimical to the healthy development and progressive evolution of the association.
Members were also asked to donate to the cause of trying to prosecute the very many court cases and there was a lot of willing donations for the course as Ten Million Naira was was made the targeted.
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More pictures of members at the event.
At the end if the event, the President of the Association spoke with pressmen and he summed up the event by saying that the admission of pressmen into the area was deliberate to give room for transparency, he also said that he is satisfied with the resolutions achieved on the day. On the expulsion of the recalcitrant members , he said that it was a collective responsibility which is also legitimately binding on all members to observe. The President also spoke on the newly introduced African Continental Free Trade Area and said that he hopes that the government will take all necessary precautions to make sure that Nigeria does not end up becoming a dumping ground for foreign made goods. He also delved into the fiscal and monetary policies of the government and suggested that the stakeholders should always be put in the loop while making policies in order not to scare investors and forestall the loss of investment.
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More pictures.
On his part, the Vice Chairman of the BOT of the Association, Prince Ozo Chukwura bemoaned the crisis in the Association and said that the Board will take up the mantle and act like the mature men in the room and usher in for the executive members the proper atmosphere to perform their day to day duty of the running of the Association. He restated that the Board is supposed to act as the custodian of the real legacies of the Association and so will try to live up to its tenets as provided for the Board in the Constitution. He is optimistic that as soon as the last Chairman of the Board Chief Henry Njoku does a hand over to the new BOT Chairman that they will hit the ground running. He spoke in conciliatory tones as he asked the press to cooperate with the Association to make it the enviable entity that it ought to be.
