National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF celebrates at 23

by Kathy Kyari

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has said that the Association was birthed as part of a liberation movement.

On December 22, 2022, Dr. Aniebonam delivered a speech at the Association's 23rd anniversary celebration in Lagos under the heading "Good Governance, a Road Map to National Development."

He claimed that his experience at customs helped him fight from within because he was familiar with customs involvement, port administration, and management.

The founder, who was speaking to guests at the event, expressed his dissatisfaction with what was happening at the ports at that time and the need to defend trade investments at the national level.

He argues that discovering God's plan for our lives will make us better people who are internally fulfilled. In addition, he said that he had discovered God's plan for his life, which was to build stages on which people may perform.

He added that the NAGAFF Academy was born out of the fact that NAGAFF, which was the first link in what God wanted him to do in relation to the liberation movement and the creation of possibilities for the young freight forwarders to be able to act with confidence.

In the meantime, the Association's president, forwarder Tochukwu Ezisi, highlighted NAGAFF's significant accomplishments in the maritime sector in his remarks.

He stated that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN, the NAGAFF Cargo Watch on TV and Radio, which has greatly aided in the dissemination of information and education highlighting the challenges of cargo clearance at various ports, and the NAGAFF Academy were all established in 2001 as a result of the visionary founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Aniebonam's desire for professionalism, training, and academic excellence.

In order to achieve the intended outcome at the implementation levels, he also stated his expectations to the Policy Formulators in the Maritime Industry that they always include key stakeholders.

Gbadebo Rhodes - Vivour, a guest at the event and governorship candidate for Labour Party, stated that Lagos State would not be a commercial capital without freight forwarders and goods moving efficiently in and out of the state. This is a very important part of Lagos State that needs to work well.

He stated that "it will be addressed by my government. We will work with all stakeholders to ensure that we have a proper call up system so that freight forwarders do not have to deal with demorhage due to the long queues and waits they have to deal with due to the inefficiency of transportation and moving cargoes in Lagos state. We will also make sure that we deliver a proper train system that will not only carry people but also carry cargo to make the process a lot more efficient".