The Board of Trustees of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) led by Dr Taiwo Afolabi, has offered to collaborate and integrate the opposing group of Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha into their fold.
It will be recalled that the freight forwarding group, reputed to be the oldest freight forwarding association in Nigeria, has been embroiled in a long-drawn battle of supremacy and show of power between two parallel BOTs contending for the soul of the association.
This had thrown the association into an energy-sapping crisis for almost five years without any sign of abating.
However, after rigorous court processes and internal realignments, the hybrid processes of legal and constitutional mechanisms threw up Dr Afolabi-led BOT as the authentic group whose genuineness was further reaffirmed and reinforced by the reopening and handling of the association’s secretariat to the National Executive Council of the association led by Tony Iju Nwabunike by the police, recently.
Refusing to bask in the seeming victory and get intoxicated by the vindication of its stance as exemplified by the possession of the reopened secretariat, the Afolabi-led BOT has returned a ‘no victor, no vanquished’ verdict but called for the unification of the warring parties for the peace and unity of the war-weary association.
Speaking in Lagos, Prince Ozo Chukwurah, the Vice-Chairman of ANLCA BOT, said that the board was ready to bend backward to accommodate the other warring group in order to end the seeming protracted crisis.
According to him, the board was willing to make concessions to the other group to foster the elusive peace in the association.
“This is a new year, I plead and sue for peace, even if it means going down on my knees. I will do everything possible for us to achieve peace.
“We should embrace peace and shun bitterness because time is fast running out.
“I will make a proposal to our board and NECOM so that we can convene an AGM/NEC meeting where the suspension of some members could be reversed and they would be reabsorbed into the association for peace to reign.
“Most of us in the elective positions in the association are on the final lap of our tenure. We need youths to come up and take over,” Chukwurah said.
