By Fredrick Wright
The Congregation of Freight Forwarding Practitioners Of Nigeria (CREFFPON) has described the planned town hall meeting as “hasty and a professional bribe aimed at discouraging the practitioners from protesting against professional abuses”.
CREFFPON, in a statement signed by Edwin Chukwudire Obi and made available to SlyeNews said the invitation is an outright insult and mockery of the intelligence of the freight forwarding practitioners in Nigeria.
The statement reads in part: “Since the conscription of its united 6:6:1:1:1 sharing formula during the 2018 election, the conscriptorss never saw the need to call for a consultative town hall meeting of the practitioners to thinker the way forward aimed at addressing the myriads of challenges faced by the freight forwarders in the course of effecting cargo clearance from the customs ports, terminal operators, shipping lines, etc.
“Another election season is here, in other to further it’s 6:6:1:1:1 selection pattern called election, it suddenly woke up from slumber to patronize and cajole the freight forwarders by convening a hasty town hall meeting without recourse.
“The town hall meeting surely will end up like the similar ones jointly held at the chapter executives level, for the obvious reasons that, majority of the leaders are feeding fat from the spoilt system and some of them are actually a causative agent of the spoilt systems.
“They indeed lacked the will and moral power to address the myriads of challenges bedevilling the profession and the professionals alike.
“The CREFFPON has also realized that, while the relevant provisions of the Council For the Regulations of freight forwarding practice in Nigeria ( CRFFN) enabling Act, provide three categories of professional membership registration with the Council, namely: a). Individual Membership registration;
b).Corporate Membership registration and Professional Association Membership registration (hence, Accreditation).
While categories “a & b are subjected to pay Registration and annual subscription to the CRFFN, it is not so with the Accredited associations.
“In an ideal professional regulatory setting, you didn’t accredit a professional association as a regulator and it turns around to be the regulator while the regulator now seat on the chair of the regulator.
“Accredited associations that does not pay for its Registration and annual subscription fee, does not have the moral capacity to propose a sharing formula 6:6:1:1:1 selection pattern in the name of an election into the Governing Council Board of the CRFFN.
“However, the CREFFPON hereby urged the freight forwarders to turn up enmass at the said towns hall meeting, asked leaders to state their stewardship of the past two years to the freight service.
“It is an opportunity to look into the eyes of the leaders and tell them the home truth and not but the truth.
“Finally, leaders in the freight forwarding subsector of the maritime industry at all level, should desists from any act of deceit,” it stated.
