The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), held it academy 3rd Matriculation Ceremony on Friday at the association headquarters in Lagos.
The academy is the learning and educational organ of NAGAFF parent body , established to advance the standard of learning , knowledge and skills for freight forwarders in Nigeria.
Speaking at the 3rd matriculation ceremony for the 2021/2022 academy session, the founder of the association, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam disclosed that the academy is currently targeting the accreditation of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
Dr Aniebonam disclosed that the association is working on how to equate the academy certificate with that of tertiary institutions.
He hinted that certificates obtained from the academy will also serve as a criteria for the association’s elections adding that for anyone to be a professional in any field of endeavours, such a person must be trained to acquire knowledge.
Speaking on the political arm of the association, he reiterated that the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) will resolve issues facing the freight forwarding sub sector of the maritime industry when voted into power in 2023.
He tasked the matriculating students to be passionate about politics and to ensure full participation in the political ecosystem of Nigeria.
Earlier speaking, the registrar of the NAGAFF Academy, Mr Francis Omotosho called on the students to be well-grounded at the end of the academic pursuit at the institution, noting that, “The way you read, the way you prepare for exams, the same way your results will be produced.
“There is no manipulation in photography; “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” Welcome to furnace of destiny restorer academy. Wishing you all the best.
“The core values of this exercise are to project the image of this Academy as a Centre for knowledge, learning and character molding.
” The core values also depict the vision of our Academy which is to nurture an Academy of high international standard so that the quality of our programs are rated best in freight forwarding education in Nigeria and amongst the very best in Africa.
“Your primary objective to pursue, in this great institution is to acquire knowledge and skills to becoming world class professionals in the field of freight forwarding practice.” He said.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Shippers Council, Emmanuel Jime , said that pursuing educational endeavor is all about hard work as it is required for one to excel.
The ES who was represented by the Director, Consumers Affairs Department, Cheif Chukwuemeka Agu, noted that freight forwarding is a career on its own, hinting that freight forwarders act as middle manor agents on behalf of shoppers or commercial company’s.
Chief Agu added that it is the core duty of a freight forwarder to organize a safe and efficient cost of transportation movement of goods across boundaries as they usually work out the best method and root for cargo movement.
According to Agu, if compare what is happening in Nigeria freight forwarding sector to other countries, it can be seen that Nigeria is far from practicing, this he says calls for consolation and capitalisation, hence, the need for more trainings in the profession.
