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By Flowerbudnews
Lagos: A group of nine, contesting membership of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) on Wednesday listed a six-point agenda they intend to pursue if voted into office.
The group includes Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, Kingsley Offor, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Utai, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, Adeola Mummuney, Chief Sunday Momoh, Tunde Awonuga and Chief Dennis Okafor.
The group made the disclosure in a statement in Lagos on wednesday.
They said their campaign programme was aimed at radically transforming the professional image of the association, adding that the programmes would be vigorously pursued.
The Group of nine represented by Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha and Chief Dayo Azeez disclosed that what attracted them to each other was their like mindedness to serve ANLCA with all their heart and resources.
According to the Group of nine ,the time had come for a number of professional issues to be given a second look and reviewed, to bring the customs brokerage profession to internal standard.
“Top on the list is the proposed chartering of the customs brokerage practice, a review of the Council of Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
“Also the demand for one per cent commission of the total revenue collection made on behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service was also in top list.
On the indigenization of customs brokerage jobs and clearing licenses, the Group of nine said it would promote a bill in the National Assembly to push for the lawful indigenization policy.
“What would happen under this board would be a diligent move to persuade the National Assembly to treat customs brokers as specialised services.
“It could be a clause or a sentence that would state that the domiciliary of the affairs of customs agents must be indigenous only, this is what was done in Ghana, Benin Republic and Ivory Coast,”he said.
The representatives of the group of contestants for the ANLCA BOT election explained that the lack of the policy had caused certain sense of unease among local practitioners.
They assured that as soon as the chartering was achieved, fears about foreigners taking over jobs would fade away as every broker would have the full advantage of the opportunities that exists in the profession.
“For those of us who are afraid that foreigners have taken over our jobs, have we made moves? How many of our people are doing this job the way it is supposed to be done?
“It’s not just to bear the name ‘clearing agent’, it is your ability to sell your specialty that matters, as long as we fail to do the right thing, foreigners would continue to take our jobs.
“How do you get a job? It depends on where your specialty lies, some of us today are doing jobs for foreigners, that is, jobs owned by foreigners, do you know why? It’s because our job is an international trade.
“So, this group is determined to pursue the indigenization policy such that every member of ANLCA and the entire customs brokerage family, clearing and forwarding industry can have a greater sense of fulfillment.
“This agenda is dear to our heart and we will not rest until we kick start the process, because we believe that only ANLCA can do this for Nigeria,”Mustapha said.
