ANLCA Chieftain, Mustapha calls for overhaul of CRFFN, blames other associations for its failure

Immediate past Chairman of the Board of Trustees ( BoT) of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Alh. Taiwo Mustapha has called for a total overhaul of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to reposition it for the benefit of the freight forwarding industry.

Speaking in a chat with journalists recently in Lagos, Mustapha who is seeking re-election into the ANLCA Board lamented that CRFFN has derailed from its original purpose and rather become a “milking body’ that only seeks to generate revenue from its members.

He noted that ANLCA was the primary promoter of CRFFN, but the council has not positively impacted neither its members or the industry at large.

He said, “ANLCA was a foundation of how CRFFN came into being. ANLCA members, not even NAGAFF, not even any other association, but the establishment of CRFFN came to be with ANLCA as the promoters.

“Now, since CRFFN has been created till date, the essence of CRFFN has not been positively felt, and this is one of the key areas that we now need to agree and look at together when this Board comes on board.

“What do we stand to gain? What is the structure of CRFFN today that needs to be changed? What was the idea behind it? Has it been achieved? If not, what can we do to actually restructure it to the benefit of our members? The way it is today, CRFFN has lost that.

“Rather, CRFFN is standing like a milking body, really pushing our members to bring out cash, and that is not the essence. So, the interest of our industry is no longer what CRFFN can push and that was not the intention from the onset.”

Mustapha accused other freight forwarding associations of being responsible for CRFFN’s failure, stating that they edged the Council on
and prioritize financial gains over providing constructive advice.

Mustapha, a member of the Group of Nine Like Minds said the review and possible restructuring of the CRFFN will be a top agenda of the G9 if voted into office.

“This new board will work to see whether we want to continue to be fully part of CRFFN or we want to pull out. If we have to continue to be fully part of it, then what can we do? What can we change? And how can we restructure it? And that will be part of what we would use in terms of reaching out to the government.

His words, “Why CRFFN failed was because the other associations were edging them on, they were not giving them the right advice, they were more interested in what they can they get financially from the Council.

“Meanwhile, every penny paid to CRFFN comes from licensed custom agents, out of which 90% are members of ANLCA, yet, when we give them advice, they don’t want to take it, so we decided to leave them alone.”

Mustapha also expressed concern over lack of tangible benefits delivered to ANLCA members by their representatives in CRFFN.

He demanded a critical reassessment of ANLCA’s relationship with CRFFN, including the possibility of withdrawal if necessary reforms are not implemented.

“As it is today, some of our members from the other side are part of the CRFFN. What have they brought to the table as benefits to our members up to date?

“So, if they have not been able to bring anything up to date, then they cannot be useful to us anymore.
And that’s why this BoT wants to stand and look into it whether we want to continue and restructure that CRFFN at the level of the government, or we entirely pull out ANLCA from it, so that they don’t continue to blame us, ” he said.

He also hinted at potential financial improprieties within CRFFN, warning that a government investigation into the Council’s budgetary allocations could lead to serious consequences for those involved.

“If government decides to investigate the budget that has been released to CRFFN over the years, some people will be in jail, among them are our members. More than two or three letters that CRFFN has written to recover the vehicles that were given to our members, they didn’t return it. They didn’t return it because they have some secrets that if they put pressure on them, they can release, and those of them who are now carrying government’s ID card will lose their job, ” he said.