By Godfrey Bivbere

Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniegbonam has called on the federal government to stop giving revenue target to the Nigeria Customs Service.

Speaking with our correspondent in Lagos, Aniegbonam said that the reveue target given to the Customs while also limiting its funding to seven per cent of revenue generated has made it to focus more on revenue collection and this is putting pressure on trade facilitation.

He said rather than giving the Service revenue targets government should allow the Service to collect either one or two percent Fee On Board (FOB) on the volume of all imports into that country.

He pointed out that the Service actually require a lot of funding for it to be able to effectively and effiencently carry out its duties of protecting the nation’s entry points as well as the first point of security.

Aniegbonam explained that since Customs needs the funds and the service providers are presently getting a percentage of the FOB, the Service should like wise benefit. If this is done he continued, the pressure to meet government target and surpass it would not arise.

On government decision to increase duties on importation of rice, wheat etc, the NAGAFF helmsman noted that the decision is in the right direction.

According to him, if the new policy is properly implemented, it will solve the problem of unemployment, safe foreign exchange for the nation and encourage local industrial growth.

He expressed happiness that government is not increasing the duties on the above items at once but intents to granduate it from next year until it gets to 100 percent by the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, Aniebonam recently went to the Apapa office of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) where his registration documents were verified and subsequently certified.

Speaking shortly after the verification exercise, the chairman of the Registration Committee, Mr. Zem Ikokide said Anaebonam’s documents were in order, registered and has been given his registration number.

He said the registration number will appear in the gazette that will show all the freight forwarders registered by the council in Nigeria Ikokide said once a freight forwarder is given a number no other person can use it. He said so far about 4,000 freight forwarders have been registered in which less than 1000 are corporate bodies.

He said: “We have been advocating that his (Aniebonam ) number should reflect the work he has done for the freight forwarding industry and that is going to be discussed with the management of CRFFN” he said.

Responding, the NAGAFF founder said CRFFN is a regulatory body of freight forwarders in Nigeria which is not in contention with any other legislative Act.He noted that there is a big difference between a freight forwarder and a licensed customs clearing agent.

‘’We will get this thing right and we must get it right. We are going professional just like any profession in our country and outside Nigeria” he added.