Siyanbola Oladapo is secretary general and member of Trustees, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (Anco). He worked for so many institutions like Thompson Barradell Oil Service Company where he rose to general manager. He also had experience in the banking industry where he spent over a decade. Oladapo, the managing director/ chief executive office Bowill Errands Courier spoke to emeka okafor on issues in the courier sector.
Direction of the Association in 2009
Last year was a good year and 2009 will be a better year. We have been able to surmount most of those teething problems we were facing as an association and as courier operators in 2008 and that’s why 2009 will be ushering in good tidings for the industry. We are more charged and we have grown in number now and people are becoming more aware about the association as a place where they can report any case of misdemeanor against any operator. With the public awareness about the association, it has made it easier for us to control the industry in a very good way and that is why I said 2009 will be a better year when those things we have been able to trash out will materialize so much in 2009.
Teething Problems
One of the teething problems included understanding why people had to register with the association. Secondly, you have Nigeria International Air Couriers Association
(Niaca) who did not understand why there should be another body initially. Now we have better understanding and we work hand in hand. We see the problems of the industry as our problems and we meet regularly to discuss issues. Thirdly, initially people didn’t believe in people regulating them to tell them to do things in a good way. Those were some the challenges we faced and after that we were able to overcome. People now have confidence in the association; more people are now joining the association. The Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) is supporting us so much .Again, other executive bodies have been able to see us as partner they can talk to against when there was no such body .now they know there is a body recognized by the Federal Government and so those were what I considered as the teething problems but now things are better.
Achievements of Anco in 2008
We will not start blowing our trumpet. I think we will leave it for the public to see what we have been able to achieve. For instance the incidence of dumping which you will not hear the way it was before. Again the CRD has been able to take us along in their training programmes and other matters affecting the industry. The department helped us to reach out to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and banks and other people that hitherto we didn’t have the opportunity of meeting. Now with the Courier Consultative Forum (CCF) which is a forum for stakeholders in the courier business, we have been able to express the problems we are facing whether with registrars, companies or anyone and they have come to see us as practitioners and respect better unlike when you go as an individual. Again, we have been able to invite some stakeholders to our meetings. Last year, we were able to meet with National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in our effort to sort out issues concerning trafficking in hard drugs. We have been able to let them see that our members will not do any unprofessional thing and even any of our members have any problem, he can come to us and we have been able to assist our members very well. Again, don’t forget that we now have a functional website that you can access from anywhere to about us and get information. We also have a well organized secretariat with staff that carry out activities on our behalf.
For those of us that have problems with the registrar, that is, those that are into bulk mailing, we have been able to see the registrars to let them know why they should be treated like partners in progress. Now, the incidence of dumping and sharp practices has reduced considerably. The two bodies NIACA and Anco last year met with the postmaster general to discuss industry issues, so we have been working closely with regulators..
Courier as High Growth Sector
The word high growth is relative .But because this is an industry where both the skilled and unskilled have a place to work because information is very vital especially in the age of the internet even with all the scams. We had a better economy in 2008 which gave rise to the movement of information, logistics from one place to the other. We can now clear our goods without much problems and the growth witnessed was because we have been able to organize ourselves better. More so the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) has not seen the need to hike up the registration fee again that it has allowed more people to come in and contribute to the development of the economy and thereby creating employment opportunities and generating income for the government. Don’t forget that Nigeria is an import-based economy. People are bringing in goods from everywhere into the country so this has heightened the activities in the industry.
Postal Commission
It is good to do things right. You might rush a regulation or just pass any bill or commission and you will later find out there are problems about it. You want to recall that when Lagos State government with the good intention of Raji Rasaki in trying to make things happen passed the coronal law that when somebody dies you won’t talk about it but other stakeholders kicked against it and the governor recalled it being a listening governor. At the national level, the process of legislation has to pass through various levels. Even with the postal bill, we made our input into the draft document when we saw the contents and discovered there were some aspects of it that we felt would be detrimental to our business. If the draft bill had been passed the way it was it would have affected our business which was not the intention of the government. I can assure you, from what we have seen on ground, the legislation will see the light of the day this year and when it does you will see that we are better off.
Local Government Harassment
We have been meeting with authorities concerned about this. Governor Fashola has brought a lot of finesse to administration in Lagos State and has tasked local government chairmen to ensure that in their various jurisdictions that things are done within the ambit of the law and he leads by example. We see things getting better in that respect as we now see where to report. You can even visit the governor’s website and send anything to him and say this is where this is happening. You can be too sure he will listen to you. We also now have his commissioners’ phone numbers, local government chairmen and their phone numbers including those of Fashola’s aides for us to contact them any time and explain our problem. We have tried to invite the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (Algon) chairman here to have a discussion with him but we will keep trying. I think the way Lagos State government is going about it that things will get better this year. The problem with the local governments is that they all want to revenue but they shouldn’t do it the wrong way. What we are asking is for them to give us the list of what courier operators are expected to pay and we will look at it and advise our members accordingly . We are law abiding citizens. Discussions are still ongoing but I know we will get there. I am optimistic that things will get better this year as the forum we are trying to create will bring a better understanding between us and the local governments. This is necessary to avoid delay in the movement of goods and services as our business has to do with speed.
Training of Personnel
Training is very relevant in our system. Like I keep saying, there is no school for courier and the only thing we could do is that every body has to learn more as things move faster. The things you did two years ago may now need new processes. Like a doctor who graduated few years ago and feels he is a medical doctor, he needs to update his knowledge regularly. Every day there are new sicknesses and even old ones are resisting medication, there is need for the medical workers to face these challenges squarely. The same thing applies to courier. We are trying to collaborate with the CRD on training. Training of course is one of the mandatory prerequisites an operator must meet before his license will be renewed. Initially some operators were skeptical about training but after being part of the exercise, they are better informed about the new trends in the industry .so we have been able to achieve much in terms of training especially the new entrants who do not know much about courier.
Bowill Express Courier
The unique thing about the company is in our defined goals . Defined goals in the sense that from day one we had set our targets. We have been adding value from day one. Don’t forget that before most of us came here, we had been successful people in the industry. We went for the best hands in the industry so what we realize is that every body knows what he is expected to do. We all know the rules of the game and know there are some things we must not do no matter the situation. If within one year of operation we are successful, it is because we believe in what we have set out to do. We also beef up any department that needs more hands even as we don’t play with training of personnel.
