ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu

By Sandra Ukele

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has inaugurated a six-man honours award committee to organise its first awards ceremony. The National President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, stated this at its national secretariat in Lagos.

According to Shittu, who is also the Managing Director of Skellas Nigeria Limited, the award is coming at a time when everyone has been falling over themselves to organise one award or the other with an ambiguous title attached to it.

He stated that the idea of award presentations have been trivialised here in Nigeria, and expressed hope that the forthcoming event would prove a distinction from others.

The programme, which would host international sister organisations such as the International Federation of Customs Brokers Association (IFCBA), would also feature professional talks and present advice to the government on how to propel the operations of the Nigerian Customs Brokers as well as the freight forwarding business in the country. 

Shittu urged the newly appointed committee members to ensure that only people of national and proven integrity are recommended during the investiture. He stressed that the committee should set out to formulate a befitting honour award ceremony that would serve as a reference point for the association in the future.

Chairman of the award committee, who is also the immediate past president of ANLCA, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, explained that the inauguration of the body was “a re-affirmation of a link between the present and past administration; a synergy of efforts, thoughts and ideas between both generations.”

Continuing, Elochukwu who is also the Managing Director and chief executive officer of Nestello Gateways Group said: “We who have handed over to them are happy with their performance and honoured to be called again to contribute to the progress of this great association. In other places, associations look like the running of private business. And that is how it should be if we want to make sustainable progress.”

He promised that the maiden award ceremony would showcase symposium and a seminar that shall streamline methods on how customs associations should be run.

The former National President of ANLCA explained that the organising committee has a mandate to honour those who have contributed to the development of the association as well as those who have impacted positively to its growth as practitioners or non-practitioners.

When asked about the inter-related nature of activities between the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and the ANLCA, Elochukwu pointed out that the CRFFN was basically a regulatory body with the power to monitor practitioners business activities.

According to him, “this is not the case with the ANLCA. Part of the CRFFN Act 2007 stipulates that the council would register associations both in the maritime and freight forwarding business. Every practitioner must be registered and regulated. Therefore, the issue of who would be collecting what will not arise”, given the clear-cut duties and obligations provided by the law.

The committee has three months to complete its assignment.