Silver Jubilee: NAGAFF Commits To Capacity Building , Grooms 50,000 Young Practitioners in 25 Years
Silver Jubilee: NAGAFF Commits To Capacity Building , Grooms 50,000 Young Practitioners in 25 Years
By Okezie Nnadi
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has reaffirmed commitment towards human capacity development for practitioners , even as a total of 50,000 membership have been recorded in the last 25 years.
National President of NAGAFF, Chief Tochukwu Ezisi disclosed this on Saturday during the association Silver Jubilee Anniversary on the N500 million permanent secretariat acquisition held in Lagos.
The National President re-echoed that job creation in the freight forwarding by NAGAFF in the sub sector of the maritime industry has increased significantly while there has been sharp reduction of social vices in the country.
Ezisi reiterated that human capacity development is a core mandate for members by the association adding that the NAGAFF has revolutionized freight forwarding practice in Nigeria.
He stated that the new digital Secretariat when completed will focus on training and retraining of freight forwarders.
According to him, NAGAFF as a public advocacy group which has ensured that all revenue due to the federal government through import and excise duties are duly paid by practitioners
operations in the port industry, the President stressed that the association was committed to the growth of international trade by facilitating the movement of goods and services across international frontiers.
Ezisi stated that “We have created over 50000 jobs for young people thereby reducing the efforts of social vices that unemployment has caused . Ordinarily,these younger ones should have taken to crime which create a state of insecurity but NAGAFF has created that platform for them to add value to their lives and family.”
He further called on maritime government agencies to step up the ante in furtherance to promote international best practices .
“Also I want to appeal to NCS, NPA, NSC, etc to step up their game to be in tune with the standard global practices, so that they can favorably compete with other ports and ensure that more cargo vessels call our ports.
Giving a background about the association since inception in 1999, Ezisi recalled that “The birth of NAGAFF revolutionized the Freight forwarding industry. It emancipated Freight Forwarders from the shackles and hand of oppressors who hitherto has held them down.
” It marked the enthronement of professionalism in the industry wherein practitioners had to key into the vision of genuine and honest declarations which in turn tripled the huge Revenue generations of the Customs.”
NAGAFF as a public advocacy group has ensured that all revenue due to Government through import duties & exercise fees are duly and promptly paid by all practitioners Tale this noble course, sheet up various arms and committee that took day and night to realise this goal collaboration with the customs she has helped to block all areas of Revenue leakages by ensuring that the Trading public is complaint with constantly engaged the ned in the revised CEMA Acts 2073.
“We have been contributing and will always contribute to the growth of our GDP. We are committed to the growth of international trade by facilitating the movement of goods and services across international borders
Also giving his goodwill address, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho said the occasion is not just about the launching of the building facility,” it represent growth, dedication and a complete pursuit of excellence within Nigeria Maritime and freight forwarding industry. I commend NAGAFF for it’s unwavering commitment to strengthening thus vital sector since it section in 1999 NAGAFF has been a pillar in Nigeria great facilitation community with a vision rooted in professionalism , transparency and adherence to global best practices through robust engagement with regulatory agencies manifest in contribution to policy publication in shaping the Maritime industry to a 21st standard and practices.”
Continuing, he said, “The association represents a strong pressure group with elemental contribution through advocacy for training and retraining towards capacity building in the great forwarding sector.”
“Highlighting NPA’s part of our focus as Management which would require the support of all stakeholders and members of the freight forwarding community which is how Nigeria can leverage at the cooperate advantage that is Maritime endowment,demography and geography converts to harness our marine and blue economy potentials to the advancement of the nations economy,you will agree with me that comparative analysis of trade forwarding passing through our port is a far cry from the volume consumed in the country we all need to be challenged as stakeholders in resolving the puzzle of why other neighbouring country with with a population of less than 15million will be handling TU use of 2million metrics tons per annum while Nigeria with a population of over 200milion people is handling less than 2million metric tons per annum,we should therefore be challenged as maritime industry practitioner and patriotic citizens of Nigeria to collectively find a solution in making the country a giant of maritime trade in Africa particularly with the regime of Africa continental free trading agreement AfCFTA, gathering the momentum for full take off. The time is now for all of us to testify our strategic Partnerships to take Nigeria to the next step since the reform of 2006 no significant advancement has been made in the sector, we therefore concentrate our growth expansion to catch up with the days of our population the growth in capacity must reflect on the ship side of business and the cargo throughput in our path as we tend to leverage on technology, upgrading of port infrastructure, pursuit of safety and security to drive our paradigm shift to higher operational efficiency. The Partnership between NAGAFF and the Nigerian Port authority has been exceptional, together we have confronted challenges, implemented solutions and made significant stripes in improving our maritime sector. NAGAFF dedication in promoting compliance reducing conjecture and enhancing efficiency in helping NPA in its mandate of smooth working operation, the collaboration has helped to improve service delivery,clear operational bottle necks and greater transparency,” he stated.
About The Author
