A 15-member Governing Council was on Saturday in Lagos elected into the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding of Nigeria (CRFFN).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the newly-elected CRFFN officials, drawn from five registered freight forwarding associations, would be joined by 17 government appointees into the council.
The five registered associations are; National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarding(NAGAFF), Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA).
Others are National Association of Air Freight Forwarding and Consolidation (NAAFFC) and Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (ARFFN).
NAN reports that the 15 newly elected officials comprised of six each from ÑAGAFF and ANLCA and one each from ARFFN, NCMDLCA and NAAFFC.
CRFFN had been operating without governing council for more than five-year. The new governing council was elected for four years tenure.
Speaking after the election, the Registrar of CRFFN, Mr Mike Jukwe, urged the freight forwarders collaborate in order to speedily take the profession to greater heights.
“Our mandate is to regulate and control freight forwarding in Nigeria; now that we have governing council, policies will be made for the management to execute.
“The policies are geared towards taking the freight forwarding sub sector from where it is to a higher level of best international norms and practices,” Jukwe said.
The CRFFN registrar said that the 32-member governing council would elect its chairman and vice chairman among themselves after their retreat in Abuja on July 12.
Also speaking after the election, NAGAFF Founder, Chief Boniface Aniebonam, expressed optimism that the new governing council would sustain and meet up with its mandate.
“This is the first time all the five registered associations are speaking with one voice which would also have positive impact on the council.
“I see the need for all the associations to collaborate because the cooperation led to the peaceful election conducted into the council,” he said.
He urged the newly elected council members to regulate the industry in line with international standards and train operators on the rudiments ot freight forwarding practice.
Henry Njoku, who spoke on behalf of the elected officials, said the governing council would look into the challenges facing the industry and tackle them.
Njoku said that the new council would ensure smooth operations that would enhance the success of Federal Government’s mandate on Ease of Doing Business in Nigerian ports.