CRFFN worst among eight ministries under transport ministry” – PM FMOT

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani has said that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) is the worst she inherited among the eight agencies under the ministry.

The Permanent Secretary made the comment at the recent stakeholders’ meeting with freight forwarders in Lagos.

The Permanent Secretary said it became necessary for the ministry to clarify the issues following reports reaching it from dissatisfied practitioners in the industry.

She added that the accusations that the ministry does not interface with stakeholders also prompted stoppage of the screening exercise to make room for interface and to give the practitioners the privilege to harmonise.

The PM said, “I am not condemning the last Council neither am I praising them but I inherited a CRFFN, in fact, that is the worst, Registrar with all due respect, I have eight agencies in Transportation, that is the agency that I see that a lot needs to be done and it is just a regulating Council and so, we need to get some things straight from the beginning and that is why I decided let me listen to you, let us also put your suggestions against the Act that regulates parties. And we are going to follow the Act as much as possible”

Dr. Ajani” while speaking on the forthcoming Council election, gave two weeks to the associations to get their acts together.

According to her, there has to be a change to accommodate members who are dissatisfied with the earlier arrangement of sharing the fifteen slots for the professional members among the five accredited associations without consideration for non members of associations.

“I don’t want the big associations to believe, yes, you have the number but leadership may not lie in the number. Good governance may not lie in the numbers neither does it lie in age.

“I say this because I bleed for my country. We have followed that path, we can see that there are obviously problems and yet, we still want to continue in that path.

“There has to be a change and change comes by election and so, some of your colleagues here have said we are dissatisfied with what is going on, we need to have a change”.

She said choosing candidates, individuals with sound knowledge of the industry and not just anybody, saying in the last board, she was surprised at some of the decisions made by the members even as she said she wouldn’t want a repeat of same in the next Council board.

“So, in the choice of your candidate, let us look more at people who are pragmatic, who have sound knowledge of the industry who will contribute.

“The Council should not be for just anybody because it is your Council that will be advising the Ministry on things that concerns freight forwarders but when I picked the files and I looked at some decisions, I said, who were the members of this Governing Council? And I don’t think I want to ask that question after this election and the new Board is in place.

“And so, let us look at a Council that is going to advise us in the right direction, a Council that is going to bring momentum to the freight forwarding industry in the country and we are going to place Nigeria first and not ourselves or the benefit therein”

While calling for integrity among the freight  forwarders, she said, “Please, integrity of that election is not going to be compromised. If I get a clue that you have recruited mercenaries and we can establish it and prove it, we can cancel your own zone.

“So, let us, please do what is right to keep the good integrity of this election process.”