BY EGUONO ODJEGBA
Alarmed and disgusted at the unpleasant dimension the leadership crisis in the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has assumed of recent, the Board of Trustees (BoT) led by Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha has announced immediate withdrawal from all leadership activities.
The action he explained is not only to protest the ugly development in the rising cases of attacks which has led to blood spilling allegedly by the faction led by Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, but also to prevent the possibility of a future recurrence.
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Speaking with journalists yesterday in Lagos, Barr. Mustapha in the same vein, equally directed the interim National Executive Committee (NECOM) led by Pius Ujubuono to henceforth cease from all activities, and averred that the Board led by him detests any form of bloodletting and or brigandage, saying its action is to avoid soiling their names and hard earned reputation.
Mustapha explained that his camp and the majority of members of the association loyal to his camp are determined to await the outcome of the Reconciliation Committee set up by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to investigate the crisis and come up with a recommendation.
Unarguably an apostle of peace, Mustapha further explained that his camp is willing to wait until all the related cases at various police formations and different courts have been exhausted, before going any farther with leadership activities; noting that its decision should not be viewed from the point of weakness; but rather to ensure that its desire to provide leadership does not at the same time interfere with the personal safety of members or others; or leads to the proscription or disintegration of ANLCA.
Chieftains of the association present during the media chat include the Board Secretary, Prince Taye Oyeniyi, Prince Segun Oduntan, interim NECOM executive members including the President Ujubuono, National Secretary Joe Sanni, National Public Secretary, Francis Itua, Tin Can Chapter Chairman, Alhaji Mojeed,
He expressed worry that the association’s intractable leadership crisis is gradually giving authorities serious concerns and warned that if care is not taken, ANLCA may be proscribed.
He said, ““A letter was written by the AIG Maritime recently to all shipping companies and customs area commands to stop associating with any ANLCA members at association level. Even at the government level, if the Ministry of Transportation comes out tomorrow and proscribe ANLCA at the port, what have we gained by killing the association?
“We want the association to bounce back in a better way, and we believe that after this crisis, ANLCA would have a rebirth. The Secretariat would remain locked down because the tenure of the former NECOM has since expired.
I am more concerned about members safety and security, not because the expired NECOM want to over-run anybody, this is not out of being weak, they have tried it before and they couldn’t succeed, they tried it now again and they still failed.”
It will be recall that penultimate week, the leadership crisis took an ugly twist when thugs allegedly hired by the factional Chairman of Tin Can Island Port Chapter, Mr Ojo Akintoye, in an inexplicable circumstance inflicted machete cut on a member of the association, Mr Wale Cole, landing him in hospital.
Ojo and Alhaji Mojeed his factional counterpart were subsequently arrested and detained; and were set free when Cole’s condition reportedly improved. Giving a background history of the crisis, Mustapha fingered the former BoT Chairman, Chief Henry Njoku and the immediate past president of the association, Iju Tony Nwabunike as the architect, lamenting that while Njoku has founded a new association, Nwabunuike absconded and flee the country at the point he realized the crisis was up to consume him; hurriedly handing over to his Vice, Dr Kayode Farinto and his National Secretary, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila.
Mustapha explained that despite that their tenure expired in April 2022, the duo of Farinto and Mukaila riding on the support of Njoku and another industry multinational money bag have refused to relinquished office, and have continued to foment trouble.
Speaking on the Board’s decision, Mustapha said, “We have decided that in order to save lives for now, we have appealed to our people that everybody should sheath their swords and calm down, there should be no activity for now. We have also decided that at the end of the day, if the CRFFN comes out with any conflict resolution report, for our own side, we would try as much as possible to abide by it.
“All the court cases are still there, we had agreed at a point that we would withdraw all the court cases, and if for any reason, judgment on anyone of the cases comes up, we would abide by whatever the court says.
“We are saying it emphatically that we believe in CRFFN, and we believe in the law of the land, whatever comes out of the court or CRFFN, we would abide by it.
“We are putting it to them (expired NECOM) that, if they want peace, we are ready for peace, but if they want war, let them go to their villages to go and war, we are no longer interested in having anything to do with them if they fail to embrace reconciliation.”
Alhaji Mustapha further explained that although the decision of the board appears somewhat harsh and unprecedented, he assured that it was the best option under the circumstances if the sanctity of human lives and the image of ANLCA must be savaged; saying the decision does not amount to abandoning the association.
“There is no way we would leave ANLCA for them, but what we are saying is that, rather than any of our own side to keep holding activities that would warrant reaction from them…because if Wale Cole had died, it could have been a different ball game.
“In order to avoid that, this is why we at board level is appealing to our interim government, all our chapter chairmen and all our supporters to suspend all activities in ANLCA for now, pending when, either the CRFFN or any of the court judgment comes up to resolve the issues” he stated
He explained that the recent attack was to further intimidate the interim NECOM which he said was consequent on the expiration of the Nwabunike tenure which expired on the 16th of April 2022. He said Farinto, Mukaila and those supporting them should take responsibility for the Tin Can Island Ports attack, and should stop shifting the blame.
“This same interim government were having a meeting…and the point we are trying to make glaring to everybody is that, the interim body applied to the Nigerian Police that they were going to hold that meeting. There was no way the same set of people would now go and bring hoodlums to disrupt the same meeting.
“Because life is about to be lost, and the crisis is degenerating to where bloodshed is coming in, this is why we decided in the board that it is high time we call on our Interim government to stay action. I don’t want it to be on record that it was when Taiwo Mustapha was leading the BOT that ANLCA disintegrated.
“A letter was written by the AIG Maritime recently to all shipping companies and customs area commands to stop associating with any ANLCA members at association level. Even at the government level, if the Ministry of Transportation comes out tomorrow and proscribe ANLCA at the port, what have we gained by killing the association? We want the association to bounce back in a better way, and we believe that after this crisis, ANLCA would have a rebirth.
“The Secretariat would remain locked down because the tenure of the former NECOM has since expired.
I am more concerned about members safety security, not because the expired NECOM want to over-run anybody, this is not out of being weak, they have tried it before and they couldn’t succeed, they tried it now again and they still failed.
“Henry Njoku is the cause of all these crisis, I can tell you, having brought ANLCA to this level, he has gone ahead to register another association” he said
Mustapha lamented that inspite of several efforts to call a truce and resolve the crisis amicably, those benefiting truncated every effort at peace as they unfold.
“At the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), it was agreed that we would come back with a consent judgment, whereby both parties have agreed and decided to withdraw all court cases, all police cases, come back and register a new board.
“The suggestion at the end of the day was that, five of us was still in the board,we asked them to bring four members of the board they have elected, so that we can form a new board and move forward. Rather than do this, they used a kangaroo court judgment obtained from Abeokuta to deceive the corporate affairs and registered another board.
“This is to say that while we were having it in good faith, that we were moving towards ending this crisis, they were doing something else, rather than resolving the issue by merging the two bodies together, they went to the CAC to do a separate registration. The CAC is already in the know of what they did.”
Collaborating the Chairman Board submissions, the BoT Secretary of the board, Prince Taiye Oyeniyi said the certificate being paraded by Afolabi and the others is fake and of no effect.
“They went ahead and held an AGM meeting during the period of crisis to amend the existing constitution. There is a simple adage that says that, if the truth travels for a thousand miles, one day the truth will rise up and overtake it.
“The expired NECOM wanted to eat their cake and have it at the same time by breaching the ANLCA constitution. Rather than bring four members of their board to add to the existing five, they wanted to bring their own nine members to join the five, so that when it comes to voting power, the nine would be powerful than five” he said
Prince Oyeniyi explained that if Nwabunike has remained above board and neutral, all the problems that have bedeviled the association in the past four years wouldn’t have happened.