Mickey Excellency: How Years of ANLCA Service Almost Cost Me My Business – Mikhail
By Roland Ekama
Managing Director/CEO of Mickey Excellency Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Babatunde Abdulazeez Mikhail, says his long service to the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) nearly destroyed the private company he founded — but that the sacrifices produced significant wins for the association and prepared him for a fresh start in business.
Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos during an exclusive interview with DAILYFOCUS NIGERIA, Mikhail described how repeated national and chapter appointments between 2009 and 2023 forced him away from daily operations, causing local and foreign clients to drift away.
A card-carrying ANLCA member since 1993, he served in several senior roles, including interim Secretary of the Apapa Chapter, Chairman of the National Electoral Committee (NECOM), National Secretary-General, and Sole Administrator.
He said “The association poached me out of my office because I believed I could contribute to its growth,”
Mikhail said. “I left my business in 2010 to make a difference in ANLCA, and I returned in 2023. Now I have time to focus on my clients and restore the office to how it used to be.”
Mikhail acknowledged the hard work required to regain client trust after years of absences. “Before, customers would come and I couldn’t pick up; I was often in meetings or taking minutes at the national secretariat.
“When clients called, I’d tell them I’d call back, and many gradually left. It was a big battle to win some of them back, but I thank God we did.”
Despite the personal cost, Mikhail highlighted substantive achievements during his ANLCA tenure.
He said he worked full time at the national secretariat for more than five years, prepared defences for 21 different court cases, and helped the association secure victories in 18 of them.
He noted that three losses were appealed and later resolved after intervention by the Customs Consultative Council (CCC).
“To me, there was no day I didn’t resume at the ANLCA secretariat because it was a full-time job,” he said. “I’ve done my part, and I’ve left space for a new crop of leaders to run the association.”
Asked whether he will contest the national presidency of ANLCA in the future, Mikhail replied that there is no immediate intention to run, but he did not rule out future possibilities.
