FG urged to engage mediators at CRFFN, freight forwarders’ meeting

A Lawyer and Mediation Advocate, Mr. Valentino Buoro has urged the Federal Government to engage mediators at a meeting between the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and freight forwarders’ associations.This is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Lagos by Buoro.

The legal practitioner said the directive of the Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, that the practitioners should reconcile their differences within two weeks, would be better achieved with skilled facilitators.

He said that all over the world, conflicts of significant proportion were usually facilitated by third party neutrals who were capable of gaining the respect of all parties to the dispute.

Buoro said that only skilled mediators would be able to manage the diverse interests that had ravaged the freight forwarding industry since the enactment of the CRFFN Act of 2007.

According to the legal practitioner, there also exist underlying interests for economic gains and the quest for group or personal recognition.

They (mediators) should be well experienced professionals who will come with fresh perspectives capable of swinging the freight forwarding industry back to a great start.

It should be acknowledged that the Nigerian maritime industry has well-respected mediators and other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) experts, ‘’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes him as saying.

Buoro, who is also the Country Representative of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA), was optimistic that the CRFFN would soon assume its full regulatory mandate.

He urged both the CRFFN and the freight forwarding associations to take immediate steps to resuscitate activities of the Institute of Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers.