AREFFN is Genuinely Committed To Port industry Development — BoT Chair
…Says CGC Adeniyi be given more time
/The Prestige Magazine/
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria -AREFFN, Barr. Metu Augustine Ejike, says his group is poised to continue to contribute its own quota to the corporate image of Nigeria.
Speaking at the monthly Media Roundtable of the Congress of Maritime Media Practitioners- CONMMEP yesterday, July 29, 2025, in Lagos, Barr. Metu said AREFFN was founded in 2007, one of the registered groups under the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN).
AREFFN BoT Chair, Barr. Ejike Metu and the President of CONMMEP, Comrade Udo Onyeka during CONMMEP Round Table
He said his group, which has Chapters in the East, West and Northern parts of Nigeria has been consistently tackling issues at the nation’s borders and ports and called on regulatory agencies to live up to their statutory responsibilities.
Metu, a Nollywood veteran and erudite scholar, said he was recently called to the Nigerian Bar and was keen on speaking up on national issues to contribute his quota to national development.
Recounting his Law school experience, Barr. Metu said life was regimented and they were not allowed to do certain things”.
Metu, President of Umuoji Improvement Union, is not your run off the mill freight forwarder, and with copious proverbs from his rich Anambra state heritage, said the coming of the digital revolution has given him the ability to work seamlessly as a freight forwarder, lawyer and movie producer.
The AREFFN BoT Chairman commended the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, for his incredible work in reforming the Customs and pleaded that he should be given more time to finish his good works.
“Since he is the WCO Chairperson, President Tinubu knows what to do to enable him keep his job at the global level,” he said.
On the spate of decamping in the polity by governors, Metu asked if the governors were decamping in the interest of the people or for selfish interests
Reflecting on the current drive by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027, Metu said the APC was a coalition that took power from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014, noting that the current ADC coalition is a force that should be watched closely.
A relentless advocate for Nigerian unity, Metu said neo-colonialism had destroyed the essence of development in the country and urged Nigerians to do away with tribalism and sectionalism to forge a better country.
In his remarks, the President of CONMMEP, Udo Onyeka, thanked the Guest Speaker for honouring the invitation and assured him of working relationship between CONMMEP and AREFFN.
CONMMEP is an advocacy platform committed to good governance in the maritime space and other sectors of the economy.
