Farinto knocks Aniebonam, laments foreign dominance in customs brokerage 

The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to come up with an Indigenization Act where none indigenes of the country would be restricted from practicing custom brokerage.

Speaking with journalists at the CRFFN office in Marina Lagos on Monday, Vice Chairman of ANLCA, Kayode Farinto alleged that 99% of project cargoes have been taken over by Lebanese and Indians while Nigerian Customs Brokers are left with nothing.

He said that the indigenization of Customs brokerage practice would create not less than 250,000 jobs for Nigerians.

He lamented that foreigners are being allowed to clear cargoes at Nigerian ports and that was why there is increase in importation of psychotic drugs, arms and Armunition being cleared from the ports.

Farinto who is a board member of the  Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) also advocated that Customs Brokers need to be separated from freight forwarders who according to him are currently lumped together in the freight forwarding council.

He posited that ANLCA is a senior partner and should not be grouped together with associations like the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF)

Speaking, he said “At our own end, we are having a double jeopardy, anybody can be a freight forwarder, you just register with Corporate Affairs for N7,000. This year now, I have renewed my license with N250,000 with the Board of Nigeria Customs Service, and at every port, I pay N15,000 for me to operate there, so I am a professional”

“The fact that we are just muddled up by the CRFFN Act does not mean that we should not separate the boys from the men”

He lampooned the founder of  NAGAFF, Dr Boniface Aniebonam for allegedly disparaging ANLCA over the collection of Practitioners Operations Fee (POF) by the CRFFN.

“ANLCA is a senior partner to NAGAFF, so if he wants to give advise, let him give it to his own members. I have a special respect for him, he is my very good friend, but when it comes to disparaging ANLCA, we will not take it from anybody”

He alleged that Dr Aniebonam had spoken on a radio program on Friday last week where he condemned ANLCA’s leadership for not living up to expectation.

Speaking further on the sharing formular of the reeled out by the CRFFN which stipulates that 35% of the proceeds should be given back to the declarant, Farinto faulted Aniebonam’s stand that an individual should be the declarant receiving the money and not an agency.

He said that Nigeria have not matured to the level whereby an individual would be allowed to be a declarant.

“An individual cannot be a declarant, but a corporate body is the declarant, we all know what the law says, by virtue of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Section 154, it defines who a declarant is”

“Any association that wants to look for money should do so within their members, they should stop seeing POF as a source of revenue.
The money should be given to the agency that makes the declaration, and it is through the association”