I write in my capacity as the pioneer Chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria(CRFFN) and as one who oversaw the council from it’s embryonic stage to a full fledged organisation shortly after the bill was enacted.
Firstly, I want to commend the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola, CON for taking the bull by the horn and asserting the power of his office relying on Section 5 of Act 16 of 2007 to appoint a substantive Registrar and CEO for the council.
The Minister, being the head of the council has also applied the provision of Section 11, especially as there is no constituted Governing Board for the council presently. This has put a stop to the suspense and retrogression that have characterised the council since it was left without a CEO in late 2022.
The capacity of the council to live up to it’s responsibilities and actualise it’s full potentials had weakened resulting in inability to pay salaries and too many internal politicking leading to avoidable distractions with poor sense of direction for over a year.
The choice of Fwdr. igwe Kingsley Onyekachi as the new Registrar is indeed a great and well thought out decision by the Honourable Minister – Aside having the requisite academic qualification, maturity and exposure to handle the office, this is the first time a practicing freight forwarder is being appointed to lead the council.
From a distance, we have seen that the minister allowed merit to prevail and he settled for a gentleman found worthy in character and learning to do the job of leading the council back on track.
Whilst wishing Fwdr. Onyekachi success in the new task, I want to urge all freight forwarders nationwide to rally around him, give the council maximum support and be constructive in our communications about an organisation we have all laboured to build over the years.
I call on all the associations under CRFFN regulation to be law abiding, patriotic and support the cause for professionalism and see it that one of us has been given a task for national service. The associations shouldn’t attempt to regulate the federal government or the very institution (CRFFN) created by law to regulate them.Let’s discourage bitterness and promote chivalry now and always
The sea ports, airports and land borders where we operate as freight forwarders are critical economic assets and our logistics function is part of the balance needed for efficiency at these gateways.
