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The secretary of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Onne Seaport Chapter in Rivers State, Deacon Chinedu Ikenga, has described the emergence of Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji as the national president of the association as a good omen for the restoration of peace which he said has eluded the association in past four years.
He stated this while speaking with this medium in his office recently following the emergence of Mr. Nwokeoji who is from the Eastern Zone as president of the ANLCA in the recently conducted elections of the association.
According to Ikenga, ANLCA has not known peace due to several court litigations in the past four years, assuring that with the elections conducted and winners emerged, the body will begin to witness a new rebirth towards lasting peace and growth.
He described the new president as a peaceful and gentleman who will deploy his wealth of experience and knowledge to bear in moving the association forward and commended him for starting on a good note with peace messages and reconciliation to several authorities and organizations as well as individuals in trying to bring everybody on board, which he said is a demonstration of a good leader who wants to succeed as no leader would want his tenure to be marred by bickering and disunity, in order to bring prosperity to the association.
Deacon Ikenga who is also the general manager of Prestige Associates Ltd, a leading Customs clearing and forwarding company in the country, however urged those who lost out in the election to join hands with the new leadership to move the association forward, stressing that they all have the qualities to contribute to the development of ANLCA.
He noted that no two presidents can emerge at the same time, and that those who lost today can win tomorrow, adding that with the mantra of the new president of no victor no vanquish and that every one is a winner. Ikenga thus enjoined members to join hand with the new leadership and not to cause trouble for the association to move forward.
The ANLCA Onne chapter scribe, who expressed appreciation that one of their own from the Eastern Zone has been elected president of the association, noted that this has given the zone a face and recognition which will translate to more economic activities in the Eastern ports and other ports in the country, as he called on the new leadership to look into some of the operational challenges which affect them in carrying out their business at the ports.
The challenges, according to Ikenga, range from alert issues, regular increase on duty payment and one-year window on the renewal of operational licenses, as he called for an increase to four years to allow for long term planning as well as training and retraining of members to conform with the modern realities in order “to catch up with the Customs who usually go for trainings,” noting that this will go a long way boosting their knowledge and enhance their businesses.
While also calling on the new leadership to interface with the government to make available a percentage of what they generate for the running of the association, since they interface with the importers and pay duties to the government through Customs, Ikenga stressed the need to ensure that the association’s activities are taken to the international space, adding that “since what we do is international business, we should have a say at that level.”
