- Customs Area Controller, Tin Can Island Port Command, Compt. Frank Onyeka (left), Secretary-General, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Godfrey Nwosu, and the command’s Deputy Controller, Admin, EE Eshiet, when the NAGAFF Cargo Watch Team visited the command
By Anthony Nwachukwu
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has commended the leadership qualities of Compt. Frank Onyeka since assuming duty as the Customs Area Controller of Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
NAGAFF National President, Tochukwu Ezisi, made the remark during the NAGAFF Cargo Watch Team’s familiarisation visit to the command.
Represented by the NAGAFF Secretary-General, Godfrey Nwosu, Ezisi said that Onyeka was setting a management and administrative benchmark in the command with his commitment to trade facilitation, revenue generation and national security.
He commended the CAC’s voluntary work-time extension “even till midnight simply to ensure that every trade-related concern raised by clearing agents and customs brokers is effectively dealt with, thereby reinforcing seamless trade operations.”
Also thanking Onyeka for supporting the NAGAFF Cargo Watch Radio, the association stated that the channel has become very necessary in sharing vital information about port operations and active engagement with stakeholders on trade-related challenges.
Ezisi further stressed the need to continually engage major stakeholders in the clearing and forwarding business for seamless cargo clearing activities, adding that they are eager for further discussions on achieving mutual benefits.
On his part, Chairman of NAGAFF Fact-Finding Committee, Dr. Arthur Igwilo, noted that clearing agents and customs are partners in progress on trade facilitation, revenue generation and national security.
He added that the NAGAFF Cargo Watch has been propagating and disseminating information on activities in the maritime industry, and will more vigorously project those at the Tincan Island Command.
Similarly, the producer and presenter of Cargo Watch, Ruth Sunday, noted that the controller’s exemplary leadership style has endeared him to freight forwarders, adding that the team will align with the command as a way to contribute the controller’s success.
Meanwhile, Compt. Onyeka has commended NAGAFF for keeping him alert and guided over the years, having maintained a close relationship with the freight forwarding association’s founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, for over 20 years.
According to him, Aniebonam has been watching his back over the years, and “his feedback has always been very constructive. Whatever achievement I’ve recorded is because of the type of feedback I’ve got from people that made up NAGAFF.”
Describing Aniebonam as an honest stakeholder and leader that he has followed for the past 25 years, Onyeka added that “NAGAFF will always play according to the rules, and will not do any push.”
He added that though the association may not pay well, “they always open containers for you as a form of declaration, which is more important to me as a customs officer.”
