Port operator seeks collaboration between govt. agencies, freight forwarders

 Mr Iju Nwabunike, a former President of
the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has
said freight forwarders were not getting the desired cooperation from
government agencies.

Nwabunike, who stated this in an interview in Lagos, said
government agencies were not helping the freight forwarders.

 He said
there was need for mutual relationship between government agencies and
the freight> forwarders, who generated huge amount of revenue for
government.

 “I will tell you, government agencies
are not helping the freight forwarding in Nigeria. So, that is
the major problem we have here. 

 “Government agencies believe they are
Lords over themselves; they can do their things; they

do not
know it is supposed to be a synergy thing. It is supposed to be a group
thing.  

 “It is not something that one can do
alone. Government is all about> encompassing; so, when

 customs is talking, customs is thinking that
they are boss

 over the freight forwarders.

“Who told them that? It cannot be, because as a customs officer,
you cannot collect your duty without me sitting down in this
place to raise my draft for treating. 


 “So, how
can he come tell me that you are the person collecting the duty? 

“If they
say they are collecting the duty, they do not see the duty, they just
verify it. 

 “I interface with the bank and I pay
the banks. I think they should give freight forwarders honours
they deserve in this country.

 Nwabunike said the
erroneous belief that freight forwarders were not educated should be corrected,
adding that freight forwarders were intelligent persons with sound mind.


 He described
a freight forwarder as an intelligent person with a mind sound enough to
connect with the global community on trade.


 “Freight
forwarding is a good business. Is a business for very intelligent
people; those

 who know their onions. 

 “It is not for dropouts; because I am
not a good `danfo’ driver, I should go back to the

 port. It is not that idea. 

 

 “The idea is that you have to learn
it. It is an institution that you have to come to learn, you have
to read a lot of books, you have to be in line with what FIATA
wants or AITA wants.


 “You have
to be in tandem with globalisation of things. Logistics is a
chain delivery; so, if for example, I cannot interact with my
contemporaries in America to do my business here

 that means I am lagging behind,’’
Nwabunike said.


 Nwabunike
said in Western countries like America and Germany, freight
forwarders were accorded their pride of place as key drivers of the
economy.

 He urged the relevant
government agencies to dignify the trade through their interaction

 with practitioners in the sector, adding that
such a gesture would be beneficial to all parties concerned.