Why Foreigners Are Taking Over Freight Forwarding Jobs in Nigeria, by NAGAFF Founder

By Francis Ugwoke
The crisis between members of the freight forwarding associations in the ports industry, including the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), may have taken a toll on their businesses.
The lack of unity and cooperation among the practitioners appears to have given foreigners, particularly some Chinese nationals as being alleged, the opportunity to take over clearing and forwarding businesses, otherwise known as freight forwarding, from indigenous practitioners.
Founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, said that the reason foreigners have gained good grounds in taking over freight forwarding jobs from indigenous operators was as a result of lack of unity among the Nigerian practitioners.
Aniebonam who spoke on the occasion of the ports summit organized by Port News titled, ‘Port Reforms and Local Content’, expressed concern that instead of forming a united front to fight the foreigners, customs agents associations were busy working against themselves.
The NAGAFF founder said this in respect of a court action instituted against the appointment of the Registrar of Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Kingsley Igwe Onyekachi, by the federal government.
According to him, the court action by some members of the ANLCA, is a demonstration of hatred against one another.
He questioned what could be wrong by government in the appointment, adding that the only reason some people are kicking against it, is just because Igwe was a member of NAGAFF.
He argued that even if some people hate NAGAFF or the Founder, they should understand that it is proper to appoint a professional to lead the CRFFN.
He argued that as far as freight forwarders continue to fight against one another instead of being focused against the known enemy, foreigners will continue to take advantage of this development by taking over their jobs.
The Publisher of Port News, Mr Wale Oni, whose company organized the event, in his welcome address, expressed concern over a situation in which foreign companies have simply made Nigerian operators spectators in their own business environment.
Oni said, “why have the terminal operators and foreigners seemingly ganged up against Nigerian bonded terminal operators by denying them container transfers/perhaps , there is a technical or operational deficiency, some very difficult, rocket science puzzle that sets us behind and which our expatriate counterparts need to teach us.
Nigerian operators have lost the plot, they are mere onlookers. What can we do to correct these anomalies? How do we introduce and sustain a mutually beneficial working relationship between terminal operators and the concessionaires of our huge port terminals with cargoes”.

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