The management and
board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria
(CRFFN) has appealed to the federal government to reopen land borders in order
to allow legitimate goods gain access into the country.
The Council made
the resolution at one day interactive session on Federal Government Land Border
Closure: Freight Forwarders Perspective organised by the Governing Council
Committee on Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance in Lagos, Thursday.
The Registrar of
the Council, Barrister Samuel Nwakohu while briefing newsmen shortly
after the session, said the call was not intended to encourage criminality but
for legitimate goods to be allowed to be traded across the borders.
He maintained that
the cause of the problem leading to closure of the borders was a systematic
failure especially on the part of customs.
As a result, he
said the resolution among other things called for better training and equipping
of the Service to meet global standard.
“The freight
forwarders are not in any wise encouraging criminalities but they are of the
view that ETLS compliant goods should be allowed to go, they are of the view
that what went wrong at the borders are as a result of system failure
especially on the part of customs.
“They are of the
view that the customs should be better equipped, better trained and adopt
global best practice, they are of the view that compliance should be adhered to
on the protocol of agreement in the West African region
“These are some of
the resolutions that we have reached during the interactive session.
On his part,
Timothy Awogbemi, Chairman, Monitoring and Enforcement, CRFFN said the
programme was aimed at acquainting the federal government with the stance of
freight forwarders on the border closure.
He said the
resolution at the session include improving on the scanner as well as platforms
so that Nigeria can compete with international standard.
According to him,
it was identified during the session that every small route should not be
considered as a border saying major borders should be identified while others
should be closed.
His words, “This
is a programme called to make a presentation to the federal government the
position of freight forwarders in Nigeria.
“The essence is to
listen to critical stakeholders, hear their views, their opinions and what they
feel about border closure and to make a joint communiqué to the federal
government of Nigeria.
“What we are
saying here so that platform, the gate, the scanner should improve. They have
to be able to be compared to international standard and every small route
should not be a border in Nigeria.
“There should be a
major border and all other borders closed and there should be facility
improvement and training and retaining of our security personnel.
Also speaking,
Otunba Kunle Domain, Chairman, Port Consultative Council said it was an open
discussion by concerned persons seeking way out of the border closure.
He added that
necessary framework should be put in place to forestall future occurrence of having
to close the borders.
He said, “It is
good to have an open discussion particularly for those who are either the
beneficiaries or the victims of the policy.
“From the
discussion today, it is clear that those who are affected feel that we should
revisit the issue and the border should be open and if not open, there must be
some framework to be done so that in future, we shall have no reason to close
borders particularly the issue of customs administration.
“They have to reform;
restructure all the treaties and the protocols for compliance.”
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