INTERVIEW:
Chief Eze Uchendu is the Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders,(NAGAFF), Apapa chapter, the Chairman, Managing Director, Chendus Global Investment Limited, At the occasion of his handing over to the Interim Administration after his 4yrs tenure, lamented seriously on the operations at the port, Stakeholders challenges and government initiating policies without Stakeholders been carried along, Chinonye Anyatonwu and her team visited and had conversation on some bordering issues.
Excerpts
Que: May we meet you sir?
Ans-- My name is Chief Eze Uchendu , by the grace of God, the Executive chairman of the NAGAFF Apapa Chapter, I was elected by the mandate of the people four years ago and the chairman managing director of Chendus Global Investment Limited, the chairman Managing Director of Ikuku Logistics Limited, duly licensed by customs, a registered freight Forwarder, they say everything that has a beginning has an end, so today, I am handing over to the interim administration, having completed my four-year tenure as the duly elected chairman of the NAGAFF Chapter, and that is what we are here to celebrate .
Que: Sir, as the chairman of NAGAFF Apapa Chapter, we want to know your achievements so far for the past four years of your tenure ?
Ans- Yes, your questions are very good, my achievements are uncountable; you cannot enumerate them. I assumed power four years ago, my achievements have to start with where we are, before my assumption of office, NAGAFF did not have a secretariat, having operated for more than twenty- years, so my first achievement was the acquisition of a Secretariat, then, by the inception of my administration, I drew up a ten-point agenda, which included building a strong synergy within the security agencies, making the chapter financially independent, and seeing to the welfare, the earnings, and the needs of the freight forwarder. That, I can authoritatively tell you that out of the ten-point agenda, if I'm able to score myself 75 to 85 points, I think that's a good pass.
The fourth is that we are here at a secretariat owned by NAGAFF, fashioned and worked out during my administration and this is the first administration to secure a secretariat for the association.
Then, going inside the terminal or the port where we are operators, I've been able to create a very lovely,
harmonious relationship between our association and the Nigeria Customs, at least the chapter can conveniently sort their financial problems, pay their bills, dues, and remittances without seeking help or begging for funds, so for me, I score myself 85%. I and members of my executives in our performance, we have been able to secure the secretarial and set a working relationship with the Customs in various chains of commands of the Nigeria Customs.
Starting from the gate, we made a very solid relationship, we formed a synergy with my executive that if there is any problem at the gate, based on our relationship and synergy with the OC gate, we always move in and get our problem solved for our members, and this has worked on many occasions.
Then, going down to the terminal, which are the sheds, we also did our best as regards to synergy and partnership. In fact, I will tell you that this administration has come to clear the air. We have come to set standards, we have come to set templates, we have come to rebuild, we rebuild all structures that were destroyed within the chapter before our emergence, and that is what the freight forwarders within proper command are clapping for today. You can go and verify.
Que: Freight Forwarders are complaining of so many government policies
Ans: Yes, I've said this severally, on the part of government, one problem with the government of this nation is that when they want to implement a law, or do anything in the maritime industry, they always fail to carry the stakeholders along. Stakeholders consultation is of utmost importance to the government and its security agencies, because they are not involving the stakeholders, you see them make some policies that are not workable, like the B'odogwu.
B'odogwu was like a bottleneck, and after the failure of B'odogwu, today, we are now talking of going back to National Single Window, I think the government and the customs should advise themselves properly each time they are bringing something new, We move from Niicis, we saw B'odogwu; we saw Asycuda ++, the government itself should think twice and make policies that are workable, the policies that will be workable are those policies you will make while carrying the critical stakeholders along, failing to do so, they will keep on making policies that will rise in the morning and fall in the afternoon.
Que: Sir, having affected by these policies, how can you assess the administration of Apapa Customs in general and the controller?
Ans: A very good question. Before the inception of the era of Comptroller Oshoba, I'll tell you we had Comptroller Olumo, we miss him, i wish Olumo will be back, every freight forwarders within Apapa command is calling for his return, but that is not possible , now he is ACG, we pray he becomes the CG because he has the capacity, he has the working experience, and he has the full knowledge and training of the Nigeria Customs.
I didn't know that Customs trained their officers in a manner to be gentle and kind, and responsive to issues of utmost importance, until I came across Olumo. So Apapa as a command, I miss him. Then Controller Oshoba, yeah, we welcome him, he is a good man, but I advise Comptroller Oshoba to always consult the stakeholders regularly because we have been on the ground, not only me, but other stakeholders, other practitioners that are residents in Apapa; he should consult us before making most of his changes and decisions.
I want to also say that for good, Apapa is working, Kudos to all the DCs minding various commands and units of the Nigeria Customs; the OC Enforcement is putting up his best; the DC Vehicle seat, the DC APMT.
But sincerely, I will not, or I cannot ignore the input of one officer whom I took my time very well to monitor and examine his operations, And this officer happened to be at the Entry point or exit point of Apapa port.
I'm talking about the OC gate, the DC Kukoyi, i dolph my cap for him, and before his emergence as the OC gate, we have had so many problems, which OC gate Frank, who is now the ACG came in but had a short period; he was in the process of reforming, then promotion took him away, and then God now brought in DC Kukoyi,
You can see, when you go to the gate now, you see those who do bad jobs they are now crying,
A disciplined officer to the core, punctual to duty, he is a mobile DC, and I think if you interview a hundred freight forwarders and licensed customs agents, 99.9% will tell you good things about him, because all that causes delays at the gate are all fizzle out, as if it was a miracle, nooo, somebody did it, and the way the executives of NAGAFF have identified with that man, he deserves an applause.
Que: Today you are handing over to the Interim administration to handle NAGAFF Apapa chapter, going forward, where do you see this Secretariat in the next 10 years?
Ans: Wow! that's a sensitive question, I'm not handing over today to an elected chairman, I'm handing over to an interim administrator who will mind the affairs and activities of the chapter from now until September. During this period, we will hold our election, and after the election, the new chairman will be sworn in to continue from where I stopped.
So, when you ask where do I see or where do I expect to see the association in the next ten years, more especially Apapa being my command. Good and fine, NAGAFF is like a mighty ocean, a moving train, and you know a moving train has so many people in it, a mighty ocean has so many things in it; dead and living objects are there in the ocean, so, I see NAGAFF in the next 10 years not only being the leading association, but also the most popular, I see NAGAFF moving from grace to grace, from lower heights to greater heights, considering the level and caliber of men we have in NAGAFF today, and keeping in mind the activities of the Headquarters, the Board, the compliance, and the various chapters, we have all it takes to make the freight-forwarding industry a very good one, comparable to our counterparts in other parts of the world and in Africa. So, I see NAGAFF as a pillar of the maritime industry in the next 10 years.
Que: How would you access the E call-up system? the failures, the lapses
Ans: They are not new to us, in the rule of the Nigerian Port Authority, we have addressed this issue, have raised our voice at the time they came to the customs long room here in Apapa to train our members so as to have free flow or an easy way of generating the system, but, I will tell you, the system is on its own, the one-way link from Ijora, where they have their park to Apapa main Port, I will tell you today it is the most conducive route for bribery, for corruption, for extortion, for stealing under uniforms, they are there from Ijora to Apapa main Gate.
Most of these small cabins, you see security agencies, the police, the road safety, the LASTMA, and the rest of them, that is money collection points, so, they have turned their Apapa route into a money-making area and as such, I cannot speak for Eto call-up, the process by which you follow to bring in your truck, to load your cargo after you have suffered for 1 week or 2 weeks, and after you have suffered APMT delay for 2 weeks, you must jump all these steps on the road again, So the process is marred with bribery, corruption, and extortion. If TTP is working, the traffic managers are not working. If the traffic managers are working, check along the road, you see that they have their campboys collecting money, you see men in mufti stopping trucks, now, this is our secretariat right here in Eleganza, I can view them from outside of the other area, they have their normal lane, and they have their express lane, the express lane is for those that bring money, these people are scooping Nigerians dry.
Que: What would you say that has given you pleasure while as the chairman, Apapa chapter?
Ans: Well, I'll answer your question, then I'll rewind back. First, I've been an executive chairman of Apapa chapter. I've been a NAGAFF member from a session, so now, if you count and say NAGAFF is 29 years, I have been a member for 29 years. If you say NAGAFF is 30 years, I have been a member for 30 years, then not only being a member for 30 years, I have been in the executive of NAGAFF for 16 years. First, I started as an inspectorate officer, duly elected under Fred Ajuzie, that was Fred Ajuzie's first tenure. In Fred Ajuzie's second tenure, I was the vice. that is eight years. then, we had Ndubuisi Uzoegbu, who never completed his tenure. he resigned, I was his vice, I completed that tenure and completed my own tenure.
This four years tenure you are now talking about. So, all these things make up 6, 12, and 16 years of being in the executive, so, what gives me pleasure as Chairman is having risen within the chapter level to the highest point, because if you will now talk about the highest point or the highest position within Apapa command of our association, I think that is the office of the chairman, and uh, by the grace of God, that I have enjoyed for four years, that I still have the privilege of contesting to continue for the next four years. So being the chairman, I think as I would say, that is what gives me pleasure within all these lengthy years in the association, in the chapter, because I waited patiently. I waited patiently for it, all to the His glory, and they would have me chairman. So, I'm the third person: Fred, Ndubisi and I being the chairman today is one of my happiest thing. It's one of the things that makes me happy as NAGAFF Apapa chapter member.
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