FG to induct 400 graduates into freight forwarding, supply chain management

The Federal Government, through the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), is set to graduate over 400 persons in freight forwarding, supply chain management across 16 accredited tertiary institutions in the country.

The maiden graduation ceremony, which will take place at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Saturday, will have the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, send forth the graduates from tertiary institutions across the geopolitical zones of the country into the business of freight forwarding and supply chain management.

The Registrar, CRFFN, Samuel Nwakohu, said the course was initiated by the Federal Government to ensure the council weeds out non-professionals and miscreants within the ports corridors practicing the business of freight forwarding and supply chain management in which Nigeria is still lagging behind globally.

He said the course is in line with the section 4 of the CRFFN, which provides for the training and equipping of freight forwarders with the right tools and knowledge to meet international best practices as regards trade facilitation.

Nwakohu said the federal government had mandated that the council, owing to its importance to the nation’s and global economy, should regulate the business.

He said the graduates comprise National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in freight forwarding and supply chain management, who finished their courses from 2012 till date.

Nwakohu further reiterated that the deadline for anyone practicing in the business to meet the minimum academic qualifications to practice the trade remains December 2021.

He noted that anyone who does not have academic qualification after the deadline would be stopped from practicing the trade, while the council would have their names removed from its register of freight forwarders in the country.

“When we have the requisite education in freight forwarding and supply chain management, we will help build capacity in line with international standards,” he said.

The Director for Education and Training, Alban Igwe, said the course was set up in the country following the Government’s directives to be at par with the developed countries in digitalisation of trade facilitation.

“Most people don’t know the business of freight forwarding, the government doesn’t want it to be an all comers affair, it is an international business and anything we do in Nigeria affects the trade.

“You find out that most freight forwarders don’t know about digitalisation, our clearing processes have question marks and Nigeria is less competitive globally. We need to empower people to facilitate trade in order to impact the economy and we want to change the narrative through those academic qualifications,” he added.