Godfrey C. Nwosu, Coordinator of CREFFPON.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The Congregation of Registered Freight Forwarding Practitioners of Nigeria (CREFFPON), an advocacy group of people of like minds within the freight forwarding profession has come out to condemn in very strong terms the proposed commencement of the collection of the Practitioners Operating Fee by the first day of March 2021 by the board of the Council For the Registration of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN). In a press release by the body’s administrator public affairs, Mr. E. Chukwudire-Obi, the body described the action of the CRFFN as ‘clandestine and insensitive’ stating that by the move that the ‘CRFFN has brazenly demonstrated its administrative carelessness towards the plights of the freight forwarding Practitioners in Nigeria’.
Excerpts from the press release read ‘The CRFFN with an incomplete administrative structure appears to be in a terrible haste to
perpetuate extended exploitations and compound the prevailing suppression, exploitations and extortions heaped on the freight forwarders in our ports cargo clearance chain’.
It goes on to say, ‘the CRFFN is saddled with the tasks of training and retraining for skill acquisition; setting operational standards; defend the cause of Professionalism, promote the culture of transparency to ease noticeable bottlenecks in operations; regulate and sanction ailing Practitioner; create an enabling environment that will guarantee the welfare of the
Practitioners; etc’.
The body stated further that unfortunately, the CRFFN has kept mute and mouth sealed, while the Freight Forwarders are being tossed up and down, jumping from pillar to post, kneeling begging just to make a living from their chosen Profession, from this singular act exhibited by the CRFFN it shows that, their interest is only revenue driven regardless of the wellbeing of the Practitioners business and the Profession itself.
Today, the Practitioners are not only helpless but highly disillusioned, due to no positive
leadership representation both from the accredited Associations and the CRFFN.
CREFFPON continued thus ‘on the basis of this forgoing, that the CREFFPON wishes to state as follows’:
1. The CRFFN should first, as a mark of Professional administration and due sense of
urgency to the sufferings of the Freight Forwarders rise up to regulatory obligations to the
Practitioners by addressing without further delays the myriads of operational challenges
presently faced by freight forwarders on daily basis, before contemplating the enforcement
of POF collection.
2. The CRFFN should owe her services obligations more to the Practitioners than the
Government.
3. The POF collection, if it was agreed to facilitate prompt capacity building objectives, the
CREFFPON is not against, but from moves exhibited so far, that initial Agreement can no
longer be guaranteed in the face of unfolding events. Therefore, the CRFFN should repeat and carry out a holistic sensitization and enlightenment of stakeholders and practitioners on the matter of POF collection and the importance and benefits therefrom.
4. The CREFFPON emphatically condemns the ridiculous move to commence the POF collection without the input and involvement of the elected freight forwarders on the board of
CRFFN.
5. The CREFFPON queries and presently doubts the accountability and uprightness in
Financial management of the POF collection without the elected freight forwarders to supervise the processes.
6. The CREFFPON wishes to state in strong terms that the administration of the Council with
a present composition of 95% non Professional is not acceptable. It has become obvious that, the Government through the machination of the transport Ministry should be told to refrain from equating and treating a professional Council to a mere agency of the Government.
7. The CRFFN should immediately suspend the POF collection intent until it shows commitment to the welfare of practitioners, this is paramount.
Going forward, the CREFFPON shall In solidarity with the larger freight forwarding practitioners, undertake necessary actions needed to forestall further exploitation of the practitioners by any government agency or individuals.
Finally, the CREFFPON wish to reiterate its position that, the CRFFN should for the interest
of Professional harmony and leadership responsibility suspend the commencement of the POF COLLECTION, and focus its leadership searchlight towards serving the Freight Forwarders to win their confidence overtime, before such contemplation in the nearest future.
The CREFFPON further registered its outrage on the commencement of the collection of the Practitioners Operating Fee.
