Prince Segun Oduntan Hosts Grand Reception, as ANLCA President, Emenike Marks 68th Birthday in Lagos

By DAPO OLAWUNI

National Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Prince Segun Oduntan on Thursday hosted a birthday party at the 7th Continent, Mega Chicken Festac Lagos in honour of the National President, Emenike Kingsley Nwokeoji who recently turned 68th years old.

The Lagos reception was the third leg of celebrations for Emenike Nwokeoji since he turned 68th on Friday 30th May 2025.
He was first hosted by members of his family and Gulf playing friends at the Ibom Hotel in Akwa Ibom, followed by another grand birthday bash in Port Harcourt, and then Lagos reception.

The exclusive reception party was attended by the creme of the association spanning various chapters and socio cultural groupings. In attendance were the members of the National Executive Committee (NECOM) the Patron of ANLCA, Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, President of Oodua Maritime Forum, Chief Oye Ariyo, Chairman of Tin Can chapter, Prince Wale Cole, Igbo Maritime Forum, Edo Maritime Forum among others.

The party which was bankrolled by Prince Oduntan, was however made colourful by through the coordinating skills of Hajia Bola Musa, the National Treasurer of ANLCA who ensured that guests are enetreated to the best continental dishes and expensive wines.

While delivering goodwill messsges, members of the association were full of prayers for the ANLCA President.

Speaking, Prince Segun Oduntan commended Emenike for restoring peace into the once troubled, and crisis ridden association, adding that under Emenike’s administration, ANLCA has enjoyed peace and tranquility which is essential for business to thrive.

“We thank God for the profession that God has laid in our hands. Somebody was asking the President that, we are almost two years in office, and what would be his legacy. The President answered him and said he has restored peace in ANLCA by 90 percent.

“At a particular time, i decided that I would love to work with him, that was during the five years crisis. I was one of the people that pressurised him to run for office because we cannot leave the association to continue to go down into oblivion.

“I told him, if you don’t take this throne now, nobody would do it, the profession was nose-diving at the time, and we were able to convince him.

“I think today, what we call stakeholders engagement which has hitherto died between customs and our association has now been restored.
If I am not mistaken, our people at the chapter level can attest to it, and this is part of the good works and recommendations that the President has done” Oduntan stated

Oduntan reiterated that one of the manifestos of the Restoration Team of Emenike was to restor peace into the association and this has been delivered.
According to him, apart from peace in the association, stakeholders engagement has also been restored between ANLCA and other government agencies.

Oduntan admonished other members of the association to take a cue and learn from the National President, adding that, a customs broker must always carry himself with integrity at all times.

“Emenike is a torch bearer to some of us, it is also a lesson that you are first of all a customs broker before you can become an association person. By so doing, when you talk, the Customs would listen, you can only engage the customs when you have a job to do in your hands, if you have nothing to do and you are coming to them, they don’t look at you.

“All the members of NECOM today are successfully thriving, including all chapter chairmen and executives, the reason we insist that everyone must have a valid license and a thriving personal business as an executive is because, we don’t want you to go and be begging at the port and bring disgrace to the association.

“I have studied Emenike even before we started working together, and I realised he is someone I can work with, he holds his own all the time” Oduntan stated

Also in his goodwill message, Chief Oye Ariyo, President of Oodua Maritime was full of fatherly prayers for the ANLCA President, he said “God will continue to bless and guide you, ANLCA was in trouble before you came onboard, but by the Grace of God, there is peace now across the divide. Continue doing what you are doing, and God will keep guiding you”

Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, ANLCA Patron described Emenike as a humble soul who is firm at the same time “I cherish Emenike Nwokeoji for his humility, he is a true leader.
I want to appeal to our NECOM to look at themselves as one big happy family, so that they can always solve their internal problems internally, a house divided against itself can never stand” he said

Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the ANLCA President, Barr Raymond Oyinmba
Described Emenike as a teacher, a true Christian, and a molder of good character.

“When you work with him, you will gather knowledge, he molds people’s character, and he changes people.

“Proverbs 16 vs 7 says when a man’s ways pleases the almighty God, he makes his enemies to be at peace with him.

“This was why, when Emenike became the President, people that have vowed to cause trouble, they all became quiet.
He doesn’t look down on anybody, he doesn’t manipulate, and that is why everything is going on well, Port Harcourt is quiet, Lagos is quiet, this is because his ways pleases the almighty God” Oyinmba said

On his part, the President Edo Maritime Forum, Barr Michael Imonitie Ovien attested that “The spirit of sportsmanship is what I have learnt from President Emenike Nwokeoji, I contested for the Secretary of the Tin Can Port and lost the election, when the results were counted, I embraced the man that won, this means that there is no victor, no vanquish”

Earlier at the ANLCA National Secretariat, Emenike Nwokeoji engaged with journalists where he was asked how he plans to sustain the peace within the association. To this, he said “Sustainance of peace is in the hands of God, as humans, we do our little best, we try to educate people to know that whatever you would become is determined by God. It is God that crown kings, so if you do your best and it didn’t work out, like i did in 2018, God is aware of what happened.

“Some people that lost election during my time, by now, I expect that the pain should have gone down and for them to prepare for the next one, but they are still trying to undermine all our activities.

“However, we would continue to use wisdom and grace of God to overcome these challenges. These are the people engineering crisis from the back.
I know there is no place where you have absolute peace, but for now, we have reasonable peace and we are moving forward.

The ANLCA President also assured that the planned retreat for chapter executives of the association is still in motion, adding that the first leg has been held at the association National Secretariat.
“We have had part one of the retreat here at the Secretariat, the next one is going to be more elaborate and we are joining it with our NEC meeting”

“It is never late, first we need the chapters to settle down and raise funds because we don’t generate funds at the National Secretariat here, retreat is supposed to be a continous thing, from time to time, we train and retrain. So many of them have never been chairman or held any position in ANLCA before, so this would tell you that they need a whole lot of education.

“Very soon, we shall have the retreat, what we are battling now is the venue, a place that is serene enough for us and talk” he said.

See more photos