Alh.Taiwo Mustapha is the Chairman of Pyramid Oil and Gas and Quicka Nigeria Ltd, a leading clearing & freight forwarding company based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Mustapha, who is the immediate past Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) also serves on the board of Integrated Fisheries, COGA farms, City Roller Transport Company, and member of Port Hacourt Golf Club.
In this interview with some selected journalists, Mustapha shared his journey in the clearing and forwarding industry, which began in 1990 when he served as a youth corps member with the Nigeria Customs Service.
He spoke about his experience working with top customs officers, his involvement in ANLCA politics and desire to seek re-election into the board to support the administration of President Emenike Nwokeoji in achieving his goal for the association.
Mustapha also highlighted some of his achievements, including his role in the presidential team for the deep blue project, his foundation, which focuses on education, health, and empowerment, and his involvement in various businesses and organizations.
He believes his experience and qualifications make him an ideal candidate for the ANLCA board to continue contributing to the association’s growth.
Excerpts:
PROFILE
I came into Port Harcourt in 1990 to do my youth service, and co-incidentally I was posted to the Nigeria Customs Service where I served as a corper in Onne command. That gave me the opportunity of meeting a good number of young officers who were just coming into service as 2star and 3star officers. A year after, I was given appointment as Asst Superintendent of Customs under the CIPB (Customs, Immigration and Prison Board), unfortunately before I could resume, the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime reshuffled cabinet, and the new Minister of Internal Affairs took over and had to change the entire list of the employment of the new officers then, and my name was removed. So, I had to join the clearing and forwarding business, that was when I joined Joe Eboje as the Sea Freight Executive for three years before I started my own company, Pyramid Associates Limited.
I incorporated it in 1993 and I obtained my first clearing license in 1995. Moving a little bit backward, I mentioned doing my youth service with the Nigeria Customs Service, and I had my late uncle who happened to be a Chief Superintendent of Customs at Onne. So that gave me the opportunity of meeting a good number of officers. We became jolly good friends and a good number of them rose to management level, they were able to reach the top of their own career as well. Some of them are still in the Service. They later became Comptrollers, ACGs, DCGs, some of them are retired now and that strong relationship along the line growing up together, clubbing together, working and attending parties together, provided me the opportunity of a good relationship with them.
In the clearing sector, people like Chief Ernest Elochukwu and Prince Olayiwola Shittu were among the first set of my contacts. Today I thank God for everything; I have a good number of clients especially in the oil and gas industry, some parastatals and states government. We have also handled some big projects for the federal government. I thank God for where we started and where we are today, the future is still pregnant, positively with new horizon and we will have the birth of tomorrow to share all the joy.
Now ANLCA
Having looked at it critically and coming down to how I became active in ANLCA’s politics, I actually started picking interest when Joe Eboje and Chief Elochukwu had to contest for the position of the president. Of course being a former staff I had to work with my former boss, Joe Ehimuan, I beseech God to rain mercy on his soul. I had to work with him and joined his campaign team, when he didn’t win I dropped my interest in ANLCA. But as nature would have it, again, Prince Olayiwola Shittu picked interest to contest for the position of national president in 2008, and invited me to join his team. That gave me the leverage again to start getting interested in ANLCA politics. I coordinated the eastern zone for him. To God be the Glory I was able to deliver my part, and eventually he won. So for the period of about eight years when Prince Olayiwola Shittu reigned as president of ANLCA, somehow I became seriously interested because of the way he handled that seat, he raised the banner of ANLCA to a very high pedestal that made my interest in the association’s politics to grow the more, I looked around for where to come in. Of course I was a little bit undecided because of my status, I couldn’t go back to contest at the chapter level because I had gone beyond that level and incidentally when I looked at the zonal coordinator position in the East, it was been contested by Dennis Okwu, who happened to be my good friend and I couldn’t bring myself to the level of contesting against him. Somehow the BoT election came up again in 2014 so that gave me the opportunity to say, let me see if I could contribute at the level of BoT. I was one of the nine that were voted into the board and we were all sworn in. I was the youngest, age wise, and the least experienced in association politics among the nine of us who came into the board, but strangely enough, I was made the coordinator which was like the acting chairman of the board until when we were able to resolve among ourselves on who would be the substantive chairman of the board. So I coordinated the board for about 9 months when eventually we conducted election for the board and Henry Njoku took over as board chairman. Some years later, it was time for another NECOM election, Tony Iju my buddy took over and that changed the scenario again. Tony iju and Henry Njoku, are from the same ethnic geo-political zone. That led us to another unwarranted crisis. But that is by the way.
EXPERIENCES
But then let me say it again as part of my profile in the clearing and forwarding industry. I was part of the presidential team for the deep blue project that was midwife by NIMASA and the Ministry of Transport under Rotimi Amaechi. This assignment opened my eyes to the security network of Nigeria especially having to do with the maritime and waterways security, piracy and the rest. I rubbed shoulder with a good number of military generals, the then minister of transport, the minister of defence and the two successive DGs of NIMASA. So that gave me a good relationship and eye opening on how big and wide is our waterways to manage. Today, I can say with all sense of responsibility, that Amaechi, Dakuku and especially under Jamoh, piracy and other forms of waterways insecurity has been dealt with, with bigger blows.
THE LAST BoT AND NECOM
Just like I stated in the last interview with you and your team, the present national president of ANLCA in person of Emenike Nwokeoji is a very amiable personality, and one of most trusted and tested that I have come across in our industry. He was national vice president under Prince Shittu for eight years. He came out without any blemish. He is focus, overly meticulous but steadily on track. He needs to be immensely supported to achieve his dream of leadership. ANLCA will soon be 70 years old, it is an association that is older than most of us. Emenike needs to change the narratives for better. He has been challenged by those who see him as a failure from the onset, but I Taiwo Mustapha and my team of like-minds just want to lend him the support he needs to succeed, it is our desire that the board and NECOM works together, it is important he is not distracted. The four point agenda we brought are part of what I see him working to achieve. But he needs stronger supportive base to actualize them.
OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION
I have attended several courses, trainings and conferences in the UK, US, Lagos Business School and other parts of the world. So I think I have what it takes to be able to be part of the new board to continue to navigate ANLCA through this emerging calm water and put her on a better pedestal in the comity of enviable professional and trade groups, not only in Nigeria, but also on a global scope. That is my short narratives for seeking to be on the board again.
PET PROJECTS
I run a foundation known as Taiwo Mustapa Foundation, it is a registered foundation and we use it in assisting the less privileged on three layers. We have the education side where we give scholarship to girls and boys that are not from well-to-do families but are brilliant and they have bright future, we have a committee that is in charge of that. Its duty is to identify indigent students from poor homes. Some have graduated and some are still in different universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Then we have the health side of it, where we try to help a good number of people to take care of their health expenses but mostly people from my community. And we have an empowerment programme. This empowerment we do on a yearly basis especially during the big Sallah when I am home and also during Christmas, to help the widows and the elderly people in terms of feeding them, and distributing food around. The foundation also gives cash to market women and some artisans in terms of assisting them in their small businesses. By the grace of God, the Taiwo Mustapha Foundation was able to tar a road that cost about N56m in my town called Oro in kwara state last year.