ANLCA Crisis: “Give Peace a Chance” Oforbike Tells Farinto, Mukaila
…Recounts How Late CG of Customs Wanted to Resolve ANLCA Crisis Before his death
…Says His Life is Currently Being Threatened
By DAPO OLAWUNI
Leader of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) in the West, Sir John Oforbike popularly known as Dankastina, has urged the major gladiators in the crisis rocking the association; Dr Kayode Farinto and Alhaji Abdulazeez Mukaila to give peace a chance in the association.
Oforbike in an exclusive interview with DAILY TREND at the ANLCA National Secretariat on Thursday noted that the tenure of Dr Kayode Farinto and Alhaji Abdulazeez Mukaila as National Executive Committee (NECOM) of the association has ended on 16th of April 2022, advising them to step aside and stop causing commotion in the association.
According to him, the late Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdulahi Inde Dikko was interested in stepping into the ANLCA crisis with a view to resolving it, but unfortunately he died.
Oforbike also raised an alarm, alleging that the duo of Farinto and Mukaila are planning to engage people to attack him, saying that they should be held responsible should any harm come his way.
According to Oforbike, there is a moral burden on Farinto and Mukaila both of whom were sworn-in with ANLCA Supreme constitution which they promised to abide by, but somewhere along the line, they amended the constitution through the backdoor in order to perpetuate themselves in office for another one extra year.
Enjoy reading the Interview below
What role have you played in the past to ensure that this crisis is resolved?
We don’t have any association apart from ANLCA, and personally, I would not allow ANLCA to die, no matter the circumstances or anybody’s ambition. I am not a desperate man, I usually allow God to determine my fate.
The Secretariat you are seeing today, God used me to facilitate it through my contact with late Comptroller General of Customs, Abudullahi Inde Dikko, a great man, may God continue to grant him eternal rest.
He was a brother to me and I brought him close to ANLCA, he confirmed our relationship and that is why we had this Secretariat.
Before Dikko died, I was speaking with him on phone, I never knew he was very ill, he told me he was coming back to Nigeria, he said he wouldn’t like ANLCA to die, he promised to call everybody and tell them enough is enough, and that his dream is to ensure ANLCA becomes great. He said since the Secretariat was named after him, he wouldn’t want the association to die while he was still alive. However, after one month, the man died. Therefore, I must keep his legacy and the believe he upheld by making sure ANLCA will not die.
I was elected alongside Tony Iju, Mukaila, Farinto and every member of the NECOM at Enugu in 2018, we were sworn-in with the ANLCA Supreme constitution to run four years in office, and we were giving it our best. However, after the election, Tony Iju was bent on making sure that those who didn’t vote for him are crushed.
Posterity will judge everybody, especially, Abdulazeez Mukaila who was a sole candidate, every other person were asked to step down for him to emerge unopposed, a candidate of all. When he won the election at Enugu in 2018, he came to embrace me and was shedding tears, saying he never knew he could be loved like this. It is now the same Mukaila who have forgotten that he was a sole candidate to both the East, West and North, he would have been a bridge builder to settle whatever conflict, but unfortunately, Mukaila is the one breeding the ember of hatred and division in ANLCA.
I had called Farinto, Mukaila and Ennyman into my house, I took them as my own, they came into my bedroom, stayed for four hours, I brought out the best wine in my house and Obokun fish somebody brought for me from Ijebu, we dined and wined, we agreed that ANLCA would not die. After all these while, I have continued to be a bridge builder, even my people in the West were calling me a sellout. I met with Tony Iju 18-times, I brought all the Western Zone executives to pay allegiance to Tony Iju. He said that the decision to suspend some members of the Western Zone was wrong and that it was forced upon him by Henry Njoku and Farinto. Subsequently, he called for a NEC meeting which all the South West leadership attended, we agreed that the crisis was over, we appointed a 7-man Committee’. However Tony Iju went ahead and added two other members to make it a 9-man committee, these people were hardliners, so everything recommended by the committee could not be implemented.
The position I have held in ANLCA is enough for me, being a two time zonal coordinator is enough for me, what am I looking for again? I do not have any ambition to be anything or any position again.
We have gone several places in order to achieve peace in the association, but somebody,a grandmaster in the East, Henry Njoku is the one heating the drum of war, he is destabilizing the entire west, while making the east to be peaceful and united, however my people in the West do not understand the game.
Along the line, the tenure of the present executives have expired on 16th of April 2022.
Now they are telling us that there was constitution amendment, the question is, can you carry out constitution amendment in the time of war in any country? If eventually you say you have done it, when it’s time to call for peace, do you think the constitution can still stand with those you were at war with?
Everyone of us have a moral burden on our head.
Tony Iju had approached me that he was going to add one year to our four years tenure so that he could be able to repair the damages in the association, but I told him, that you cannot use problem to solve another problem. But Farinto capitalised on it, because he sees Tony as a weakling, he plans to be the head at all cost. When the tenure expired, Tony has absconded, saying that he went on a study leave, Farinto is now parading himself as Acting President.
We were called by the Commissioner of Police to make peace, he schuttled it, the AIG Maritime also called a meeting and Farinto shouted him down, including Peter Okocha our former President, he insulted everybody, just because he wants to become number one.
You cannot force yourself on the people, Farinto met ANLCA, he was never part of it, I want him to think deep if he is being used to destroy ANLCA, posterity is there to judge him. Come to think of it, on which moral ground are they standing? They are fighting the board, there is a law backing the board, and everything you do must be based on the law, you were sworn in with a 4-years tenure supreme constitution, you swore to abide by it, yet you are now coming to say you have added one year to it, are we in Banana Republic?
Have there been any time in the past that the BOT of ANLCA took over the association and appointed caretakers?
It has happened before under Idonigie, it happened also under Henry Njoku, they appointed people to run the association for a particular time, so, this is not new to ANLCA. So who are you to say you cannot accept Taiye Oyeniyi and others, who are you to reject what God had made? they are registered members of the board.
Let me tell you today that my life is being threatened, but I am not afraid of anything because my life belongs to God, however the person that the devil would use to harm me, if God permits, I am putting it on record that Farinto should not push his ambition too far by meeting people to come and attack me.
The Secretariat have been take over by the owners, the board, they are the ones that have the document of the Secretariat.
Our tenure as NECOM has expired, ask Farinto to show you the cirtificate that was given to him when he was sworn it, there is a moral burden on his head.
Have you received any threat to life so far?
People have been calling me, warning me that they are planning evil against me, however, God has been protecting me all the time. I want to advise Farinto and Mukaila to give peace a chance, you cannot foister yourselves on the people, allow people to elect you, the people have elected you for a 4-years tenure, you have to resubmit yourself for another election.
What should we expect now, the Eastern chapters are dissociating themselves from the actions of the board
The grandmaster who is the achitec of it all, is Henry Njoku, the man who wants to remain in power. We have members from the east who attended the inauguration on Wednesday, the board has taken over, I want to advise these people to stay away from the Secretariat to forment trouble, if they have anything they left in the Secretariat, they can come and pick it, they are free to come in as members, but coming to seat at the office as executives, there is no room for that, our tenure has expired.
Let’s even agree that they have amended the constitution, they are not the first people that should benefit from the constitution that was amended. Uhuru Kenyatta wanted to do it but it backfired, Obasanjo also wanted to do it and it backfired, and so many other leaders. We should not do things as if we are in a Banana Republic.
Please tell them to give peace a chance, Farinto wants power by all means, he should not play God. He was never part of this Secretariat for one minute, his Kobo was not committed to this Secretariat project, he should not come and destroy what he didn’t build, and we are not going to allow this association to be destroyed. The intention of Henry Njoku and others is to see that the Secretariat is burnt down, they are not happy that the Secretariat was situated here in the West. Achike Udenwa promised to give ANLCA fifteen hectares of land which Henry Njoku said he has done, he gave us to build our Secretariat and Institute of freight forwarders at Owerri, however we have not seen the document till today. So, Henry Njoku wants the Secretariat to be in the East, however the West is where the maritime hub is, so they should give peace a chance.
Ordinarily, the east were not part of ANLCA, it was in 1987 that the unification came, they were brought in and became part of ANLCA, and Henry Njoku does not want anybody that would challenge his authority, I don’t know what he is looking for, he can never be a passenger in any vehicle, he wants to be on the driving seat, that has been his culture, he has gone to form another association of exporters where he is board of trustees.
I have said it, if anything happens to me, Farinto and Mukaila should be mindful of what they are planning, however, my life is not in their hand, it is in the hand of God.