Freight Forwarders Move to Salvage ANLCA
By Francis Ugwoke
As the forthcoming election in the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) draws nearer, presidential aspirants have pledged their determination to salvage the association which for years has suffered leadership crisis.
Flagging off their campaign for the election, two of the four presidential candidates said their concern if elected will be to turn around the association which according to them has suffered good leadership direction over the years.
In Port Harcourt, the former Deputy President, Dr. Joe Ehimuan, told members ,"we are living witnesses to the problem that befell the Association over the years. That is why I have come to salvage the situation. I am a role model. I have the capacity to carry out reform in the Association. I have what it takes to place the Association where it rightly belongs".
Ehimuan said that he felt bitter when recently the Minister of State for Finance said that government was misled into taking some fiscal measures as they affect ban on importation", adding that this was because the Association was not well positioned to advise the government.
"If I become President of ANLCA, I will move the association forward by changing all this. I have discovered that the Association's input is not in the budget, this I will have to change", he said.
He expressed regret that containers after being cleared at the ports are again intercepted by the Police on road blocks few meters away from the port, and assured members that part of his promise will be to change this trend.
"If other professional bodies, like Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Medical Association can be organised, I see no reason why we cannot be organised as well. I have not been a failure and I will not fail the association."
Noting that so many members have left Association over the years to form new bodies, Ehimuan promised to reach out to these people to bring them back.
He asked his supporters to keep a list of all his campaign promises, which according to him will be fulfilled.
Similarly, Mr. Katsina Uzor, former Chairman, ANLCA, Apapa Chapter while flagging off his presidential campaign also spoke in the same line with his opponent.
Worried over the situation in the association over the years, he told members, "I now ask, should we leave our noble association which is our source of livelihood to remain moribund. Has it defied all avenue of resustication, what actually is the problem".
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