NAGAFF Chieftain Seeks CRFFN Withdrawal From Marine /Blue Economy Back To FMOT

Igwe who is also the Secretary General of NAGAFF made the suggestion during a radio programme recently in Lagos, stated that since the creation of the new Ministry which is yet to understand its full potentials and directives ,there is need for it to solve problems and not create more hiccups for practitioners.

According to him, the new ministry is knowledge and technically based driven industry, hence there is the need to analyze the agencies under it.

While  arguing that the freight forwarding regulatory agency is nowhere apt to be part of the new Ministry, he noted that freight agents have been sidelined since  the establishment of the Council, pointing out that practitioners under the sub sector are not carried along on policy making and decision taking.

The NAGAFF scribe lamented that freight forwarders play pivotal roles in the logistics supply chain system affirming that the practitioners in the industry are critical in all mode of transportation .

“It is better we leave this ministry and improve the transport Ministry. back the Council for the Regulations Freight Forwarding in Nigeria ( CRFFN) to the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT) instead of Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

Igwe opined that “I would have suggested that CRFFN remains with the Federal Ministry of Transportation and not Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy which is an emerging sector globally.

“I believe with the coming of the Marine and Blue Economy, I think its a good development because government has seen the need for the creation of the new ministry to boost the maritime ecosystem.

“We need to know which agencies will fall under this ministry. Sometime words are used ambiguously. So when we talk about freight forwarders we are talking about logistics Service providers. Our services or functions cut across aviation, rail , road and sea. Now mumbling freight forwarding under Marine and Blue Economy is a story for another day .

“CRFFN is the regulatory body of all freight forwarding practice in Nigeria. Why not create ministry of logistics services to solve logistics problems in Nigeria like warehousing, transportation, logistics related services , clearing and customs brokage, shipping, import, haulage, road transportation. The Ministry of logistics service will be a one stop shop for practitioners.

“If you mumble freight forwarding practice in  Marine and Blue Economy  Ministry then we will remain where we are without no voice because this Ministry is centred on mining, offshore, oil and gas, fisheries,ship building ,seawater aquaculture etc. “