CRFFN chieftain bags fellowship award of Nigerian Institute of Management

Chairman, Monitoring, Compliance and Enforcement Committee of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Mr. Timothy Awogbemi has been conferred with the prestigious fellowship award of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM)

Awogbemi who is the Chief Executive Officer of Max Global Limited, a freight forwarding and Bonded Terminal in Lagos received the award at the 2019 Awards, Fellowship and Spouses Day Luncheon of the NIM which held last week at Muson Centre, Lagos.

While speaking with journalists after receiving the awards, he described it
the highest honor in the Nigerian Institute of Management which he claimed to have been looking forward to in a very long time.

According to him, “For you to be awarded as a single fellow, you must be hardworking, you must be contributing towards the development of the Institute and towards the development of the community, this means you have to take social responsibility very important. I feel honored and I am very happy”

“I joined the Institute as an associate in 1986, and in 2002 I became a full member, and today I am a fellow of the Institute. It is roll call of who is who in Nigeria, you don’t just wake up one day and become a fellow, I will work hard with other fellows to see that else move the country forward and we move Lagos State forward”

While speaking on the recent ban on importation foods and dairy items from accessing foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who is also a member of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) commended President Muhammadu Buhari for placing the ban, saying that this would lead to food sufficiency in Nigeria.

“What the president is trying to do is to encourage the local farmers, it is not a total ban, what it means is that you cannot access FOREX but you can still import if you want to”

“The federal government wants to encourage the local farmers and I think this is good”

“We cannot wait until we have food sufficiency before policies are put in place, this policy will encourage the farmers and encourage more people to go into farming, and this is the only way we can be self sufficient in food” he said

On the closure of the land borders by the government, Awogbemi said the move could be justified as it has to do with national security.

“I quite agree with you that the border is a major point of entry but then, nobody should joke with security, because if anything happens, we would not be talking of whether it is a major point of entry or not”

“It is only when you are safe that you can begin to worry if the economy is good or not or that you want to go and do business, if the closure is of security interest, then it is okay” he said

Speaking earlier, President of Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) Professor Olukunle Iyanda lamented the level of insurgency in Nigeria which according to him has instilled great fears into the heart of Nigerians.

According to him, “There is increasing insecurity and fear among Nigerians to exercise their freedom of movements, there are allegations of corruption in the most sacred temple of the land and a seeming loss of faith in Nigerian nationhood”

“Our Fellows, both old and new should therefore accept the challenge to reverse these unproductive and undesirable trends in our nation.
This we can do through the practice and the propagation of good management”

“We are therefore called upon to demonstrate the highest level of selflessness, probity. objectivity and accountability in our own personal and professional responsibilities such that we can restore the faith of all stakeholders in the Nigerian project”

“It is a challenge which i hope and plead all our members, particularly all our Fellows, many of whom are called to serve at the vantage positions of the country’s governance would take seriously as personal commitment” he said