New NAGAFF President, Ezisi, Takes Over, Promises to Take Association to Next Level
*Announces health insurance policy for members
*ANLCA, NAGAFF to synergize against ills of ports industry
*Aniebonam keeps hitting former presidents
By Francis Ugwoke
The new President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Tochukwu Ezisi on Monday formally took over the mantle of leadership from the former President, Dr. Increase Uche.
Ezisi who was sworn in along with other executive members at an elaborate inauguration ceremony performed at the Rock View Hotel, Apapa, promised that he will take the association to the next level.
Sounding a note of warning to chapter executives, the new President said it will no longer be business as usual, and called on them to wake up and offer their best for the association.
He also assured that the hallmark of his administration shall be constructive engagement with the heads of the major regulatory agencies to ensure better synergy with NAGAFF in the interest of members.
Ezisi promised to run an all-inclusive administration, adding that all he needs was support from all members to succeed.
He said, “We need all hands to be on deck as we are going to run an all-inclusive administration. The door is always open for those who have ideas on how to move NAGAFF higher, I want everybody to know that NAGAFF belongs to all of us, so we should always think of how to make it better”.
He promised to create an administrative structure that ensures that “we are able to deliver on our blueprint for the progress of the NAGAFF as an institution”
He added, “To achieve this, I will require your co-operation and understanding. Let us always be thinking not of power but of possibilities. Not of personal interest but of public good and together we will write a NAGAFF story of hope, not fear. Of unity not division, of light not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing , greatness and goodness. May this be the story that guides us”.
On the welfare of members, he promised that NAGAFF will key into a good health insurance scheme that will be beneficial to all financial members.
“Considering with our numerical strength, I will negotiate a favourable deal with a health insurance policy provider for good product that will be of benefits to members. We shall also institute a comprehensive health insurance scheme and establish a medical health fund to help deserving members subscribe to the scheme”, he said.
Founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam in his speech said he was happy that all efforts by agents of destruction against the association for the past 22 years failed.
Aniebonam said it was to avoid conflict that made him pursue the registration of freight forwarders association.
He also added that it was to protect freight forwarders that led to the clamour to have the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to speak with one voice,
Expressing fulfillment about the registration of CRFFN, Aniebonam however said that freight forwarders must work together to be able to liberate themselves.
Stressing the need for collaboration, he said this was the only way the agencies of government in the ports industry would appreciate freight forwarders.
Aniebonam who tasked the new President to deliver explained that his emergence was based on popular choice by members of NAGAFF.
He described Ezisi as a man of capacity, noting that it was during his birthday celebration recently that members moved to support that he takes over as the next President based on a question he raised as to who should succeed the former President, Uche, whose tenure ended on October 30.
Aniebonam who said he was stepping down from NAGAFF affairs having intervened earlier after stepping down, called on freight forwarders to be on the path of law.
According to him, “the way we do things is the reason we are suffering”.
He called for collaboration between his association and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) to address some of the ills that freight forwarders have been suffering in the hands of agencies of government.
He called on the ANLCA and NAGAFF leadership to help ensure that agents do the right thing.
He also called on the Minister of Transportation to speak to the associations of freight forwarders through the CRFFN and ignore speaking to individuals.
Aniebonam again did not hide his bitterness over the decision of the former Presidents of the association to contest the forthcoming CRFFN board election as independent candidates.
This was as he referred to the two as late terrorist Osama bin Laden.
“The two previous presidents of NAGAFF are like Osama bin Ladin who was trained by the Central Intelligence Agency but later came back to burn the World Trade Centre.
“They were part of the Governing Board of CRFFN before now and they told us there was nothing there. But you were given private cars but you are hiding them. So, when there was nothing there, why are you aspiring to contest on an individual basis again?”
The President of ANLCA, Iju Tony Nwabunike in his goodwill message assured that his association and NAGAFF will work together for the interest of the members.
Nwabunike said that a lot will be achieved for the members and the industry once the practitioners can put their house in order.
He said that a lot was wrong in the industry which needs collaboration to address.
He commended the Compliance Team of NAGAFF for doing a good job to put things right in the industry.
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