ANLCA, House of Commotion

On November 25, 2019, Tony Iju Nwabunike, the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), took a bold step to resolve the protracted succession war in the Henry Njoku-led Board of Trustees (BOT) which plunged the association into a needless crisis.

To douse the raging inferno that threatened to consume the association, Nwabunike prevailed on members of the National Executive Committee (NECOM), to recall some Executive members, chapter executives and committee members who were sacked at the NEC meeting of the association on December 17, 2018 in Abuja.

That singular courageous move by Nwabunike, widely hailed by members who were already battle weary, pulled ANLCA from the precipice and restored sanity to the association after over a year of drunken dancing steps.

It also gave Nwabunike the respite from the confrontation by the warring BOT and restored the needed peace that had so long eluded the association.

But no sooner had Nwabunike begun to savour the hard – earned peace that he wanted to use to launch the association into greater height than another crisis broke out.

This fresh crisis, which has blown off the fragile peace in the association, is hybrid and complicated.

We fear that it may deal a deadlier blow to the fragility of the group.

Firstly, there is a discordant tune among members of the National Executive Committee of the association, led by Tony Nwabunike, especially between Kayode Farinto, the Vice-President of the association and other members of the Executive Council.

Secondly, the NECOM does not recognise the BOT whose members have given themselves a fresh six-year elongated term.

Thirdly, the Association Electoral Commission (ASECO) has disowned the chapter Chairmen in the Western Zone of the association for what it regarded as improper ascension to power.

But the beleaguered Chapter Chairmen insisted they are still in charge, alleging that the ASECO Chairman, Raymond Onyimba, who purportedly issued the disclaimer notice, is on suspension.

It was a cacophonous clash of interests that has turned ANLCA into a house of commotion.

It was the elders in the house, the BOT which is supposedly comprised of discerning elders, who triggered the fresh crisis.

The factional Chairman of the war-torn immediate past BOT led by Henry Njoku, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha wilfully extended the tenure of the board by another six years, relying on a deceptive web of litigation to dig his feet deeper.

This was after Chief Njoku voluntarily relinquished the position he held on to for 12 years.

The NECOM has however regarded the move by Mustapha and his team to entrench themselves as a huge joke, thus setting a stage for another battle of wit that will test the will of the association.

As if that was not enough, a cold war has broken out between Kayode Farinto, the Vice-President of the association and Nwabunike, the President.

Farinto is not on the same page with other members of NECOM, especially Nwabunike, for inexplicable reason.

This animosity was inexplicable because it was Farinto who held forth for Nwabunike while the latter made his political sojourn that took him away from ANLCA during the last general elections.

Farinto was a staunch supporter of the President during the last crisis that engulfed the association.

We recalled that Farinto recently called a press conference where he indicted the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on some operational lapses.

In another breath, some members of NECOM led by Nwabunike, paid a ‘courtesy’ visit to the DG of SON in what was a clear move to discredit the stand of Farinto on the SON.

This was preceded by a statement by some members of ANLCA which dissociated the association from Farinto’s position on the SON.

If these two unfortunate developments are juxtaposed with the fresh move to depose the chapter Chairmen in the Western Zone of the association and the resistance of the chapter executives, then ANLCA may be on its way to another long drawn crisis.

We are not only disturbed by the fresh developments in the association which are ominous, but also disgusted by the satanic obsession with power and wealth which seized some members to want to push the association into oblivion.

We cannot explain the obstinacy of some members who are in the position of authority in the association that have refused to relinquish their positions but instead chose to plunge the association into another war of attrition.

If their positions are a call to service, then why their stranglehold on those positions?

We are particularly mystified by the show of shame being displayed by the so-called opinion leaders in the association, a ludicrous grand standing that has made them a public spectacle.

It was these same group who purportedly plunged the association into a protracted crisis for more than one year as a result of obsession with power.

To think that it was these same elders who have charted a new course for crisis is to say the least distasteful.

A Yoruba adage which literally translates to “an elder cannot be in the market and allow the head of an infant to bend” has been diluted by the unenviable act of ANLCA BOT.

Rather than being a stabilising force, the ANLCA BOT has instead chosen to become more or less an agent of destabilisation.

We call on the present executive members of ANLCA, especially Tony Nwabunike to, as a matter of priority, set in motion a review of the constitution of the association that will make the position of BOT less attractive.

Something must have been attached to that position that makes the “elders” want to resist leaving, even after their tenure expires.

It is that “something” we want the constitution review to expunge.

If ANLCA desires peace and the NECOM wants atmosphere of sanity without any interference from the “elders”, BOT should be made less visible and attractive and their role should be purely advisory.

Until this is done, subsequent BOT may continue to be intrusive and obstructive, stirring needless crises that will rub the association of peace, harmony and unity that are needed to make ANLCA strong again.

Presently, ANLCA is battle weary and cannot afford another crisis that may make it play a second fiddle to other sister associations which are benefitting from the lack of cohesion in ANLCA.

We advise the gladiators in ANLCA to have a rethink and sheath their swords in the interests of the weaker members and the corporate existence of the association.

If they are truly interested in the progress of their members and that of the association, they should remember that where two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

A divided ANLCA will be a ready meal for the Nigeria Customs Service which will exploit the present commotion in the association to stuff its humongous N2 trillion revenue target down the throat of members.

Equally, other agencies such as the SON, NAFDAC including the service providers such as the terminal operators and the shipping companies will feast on the hapless members of the association who may not get adequate protection from their leaders that are at war over the spoils of office.