Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam, founder and first president, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (Nagaff), has formally retired from active association activities.
Dr. Aniebonam, recently resigned as the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of Nagaff and handed over to Mr. Usman Sanusi, who was the former national president of the association.
At a farewell ceremony organized for him, last month (May) by Nagaff at Mainland hotel conference hall, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, he said, “I am no longer involved in the management of Nagaff. I am just the founder and nobody will take that away from me. Anybody coming to me now, is doing so on consultancy basis.
“I have nurtured Nagaff, I have taken all the heat, and used it as a wheel of change and empowerment to some people, and hope they will make good use of it”.
While recounting his efforts at making the freight forwarding profession in Nigeria a remarkable one, Aniebonam who played a vital role in various processes that led to the birth of the council for the regulation of freight forwarding act 16 of 2007, told his well wishers amidst ovations that every member of Nagaff must be proud of their contributions, which has made the association a success today.
Later at an award ceremony by the association at Airport hotel Ikeja, attended by the BOT members and other stake holders in the industry, including the representative of the comptroller general of the Nigeria customs service, Abdullahi Inde Dikko and Mrs. Mfom Usoro, secretary general of the Abuja memorandum of understanding for port state control in West and Central Africa sub-region (Abuja MoU), he said, “Today’s celebration is to mark my formal exit from Nagaff and active association activities but I also use the opportunity to appeal to members to re-affirm their commitment to keep the Nagaff flag flying. It is on record that there is now a Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), which can be rightly said to be a brain child of Nagaff”.
However, Aniebonam commended the BOT members and other members of the association for the support he received throughout his stay as president and chairman BOT and challenged them to go ahead and reach greater heights.
While responding, Sanusi told Dr. Aniebonam that the association is very appreciative of his contributions and will ensure that his vision and mission for Nagaff is not betrayed.
He said, “As a close associate of Aniebonam, I can’t be faulted to describe him as a true leader and an incandescent team player, who is versed in people skills, a consensus builder who systematically delegates authority and responsibility. An action person who innovates, re-engineers and re-invents new and better ways to propel our great association to his vision, mission and core values”.
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