ANLCA BoT ‘24: Group-of-9 Pledge To Secure Review of License Renewal, Wrongly Blocked Licenses

BY EGUONO ODJEGBA

L-R: Prince Oduntan, Alhaji Azeez, Mummuney and Awonuga during the meeting

The Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Group of 9 like-minds contesting the Board of Trustees (BoT) membership tickets, yesterday, Tuesday, assured members of the association and the clearing and forwarding community at large they would engage the federal government for the urgent upward review of the existing yearly renewal of operational licenses, when voted into office.

The respected Group of 9 gave the assurance at a meeting they had with members of the Western Zone Park View Hotel, Amuwo-Odofin Lagos, pledged to take up the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on revoked licenses of members believed to have been wrongly blocked.

Addressing members of the zone, Alhaji Dayo Azeez, Adeola Mummuney and Segun Awonuga note that the significance of having a harmonious, diligent, focused and hardworking national leadership and the board of ANLCA cannot be over-emphasized, especially at a time the association is just coming out of a long drawn crisis precipitated by unwarranted leadership schism.

While asking for members of the zone’s support and vote in the upcoming board election slated to hold within the month barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group of wise men responding to concerns raised by members said all areas of conflicts in the course of their operations will be carefully evaluated, and that necessary actions will be taken aimed at resolving all such problems.

Members lamented that the yearly renewal of operating licenses is burdensome and financially tasking considering the limited volume of work some agents get.

Responding, Azeez said, “Our group has taken note of your complaint that our practice’s license renewal is the costliest compared to other professions like NBA, APR, COREN, NMA etc. This group will take this up with the management of the Nigerian Customs Service and hopefully, will persuade the authority to raise it up to 3 year time frame rather than the yearly routine.

“We hope to also look at the prospect of negotiating the reduction of the amount, government is looking for money from all angle but the beast of burden must not be killed on account of more and more money. We want to assure you that we will cross the bridge when we get there.

“When we preach peace and harmony in ANLCA within the leadership structure, it is for our collective good. When the National Executive Committee (NECOM) and the BoT are working and planning together, without the board distracting the NECOM, leadership remain focused and can have the time to address some of the complaints that have been tabled.

“So, our own board will engage the customs board and take it up from there. And of course, the board cannot do it alone, it must work with the national leadership to get things done and that is why your support and vote is important. We don’t want a combative board that will constantly be at loggerhead with the NECOM, so these issues will be taken up by us when we come on board; and hopefully, we will get them resolved.”

On his part, Adeola Mummuney said some of the serious challenges plaguing customs agents will disappear when the practice is fully professionalized, noting that it will also open up greater opportunities for practitioners.

“ANLCA has been around for a long time but have not gotten to the height we should be as a profession, so a lot of things need to be done. We have said that top on the list is to professionalize our practice, our clients and people we service must have trust in us. It is because they don’t trust us enough that we are having issues and challenges.

“We must professionalize, so that is what our group intends doing. There is no reason clearing jobs cannot be restricted to Nigerians, but to do that is to indigenize the practice, to get chartered as a profession. Once we do that, no foreigner can come in without dealing with us.”

Speaking on the same vein, Alhaji Awonuga said, “Our profession is global, clearing and forwarding business is done all over the world. While we are crying and lamenting here most of the time, elsewhere it is not so. How are they doing thero own, how are they surviving? Why does certain organizations die in Nigeria and hardly survive even 100 years?

“In this industry if you are not careful it will take you a whole week to clear a container, the reason is because we are not organized, so we need to professionalize. To do that we need to act as a collective, and to be a collective we need a board and an exco that is united to lead the process.

“When this one is fighting the other, our problems will never go away and that is why we have come together as like minds to say we want your vote to be at the board so that we can give our NECOM the right support they need to perform and get things done. If there is no peace at the leadership level, we will continue to cry.”

Airing their views on some of the challenges during the meeting, members including a former interim National President of ANLCA, Pius Ujubuno lamented that the Nigeria Customs Service failed to nominate customs agents into Single Window Committee despite customs agents critical role in the industry.

They also charged the contestants to seek greater recognition for customs brokers when they get into office and to call for a review of the Customs Act 2023 in which clearing agents were named Customs Representatives, noting that the NCS is not giving them their right due as its representative.

Ujubuno said, “We were part of the customs act review drafting committee, what was recommended was for licenses to be renewed every four years, but the act when passed didn’t reflect our position or else management is trying to de-emphasis it.

“We have been called different names, clearing and forwarding agents, customs brokers and freight forwarders but in the Customs Act 2023, we were referred to as customs representatives, what is the benefit of that when we are not recognized as fiscal partners. I think it is just a nomenclature.

“We want this incoming BoT to find out and tidy it up. We cannot blame customs because we didn’t start as professionals, we started as artisans and was registered under trade act at that time. But now that we are evolving, educated people have taken over the practice, so l am happy that we are having this dialogue.”

ANLCA Vice President, Prince Segun Oduntan and and the National Secretary, Olumide Fakunle wgo graced the occassion wished the contestants good luck and urged members of the zone to vote wisely. Also present are the Group-of-9 campaign media team, the Essential Joe Sanni and Mr. Ayokunle.