Prince Shittu led committee was inaugurated in October 2022 with the mandate of reconciling aggrieved members of the association so that elections can hold.
The other committee members included, Edmund Martins, Akin Akinyemi, Engr Emmanuel Ilori, Engr Adewale Ishola and Bar. Paul Omolodun.
Celebrating Prince Olayiwola Shittu, a former National President of the Association of Nigerian Customs Licenced Agents, his good mien towards people, irrespective of where they come from or what their religious or cultural beliefs are are visibly seen. It is a virtue that shaped his life from an early age when his father led him through the path of great thoughts, making him get exposed to other religions, simply to understand what could inform people’s disposition and how to relate with them.
He started early in life, on the business front however, the entrepreneur gentleman knows how to keep the lead unruffled since 2010 when he became the National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).
After high school, Olayiwola left his birthplace in Epe for Mushin, Lagos, to assume duty on a job with the Post and Telecommunications(P&T) Department, which trained him at the Training School, Oshodi, Lagos. Soon after, he transferred his service to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which is another parastatal of the Federal Government.
He was in Koko Port when the first commercial vessel came with Mitsubishi Lancer cars. He aimed at meeting his set goals doing cargo discharge, clearance and delivery processes at his duty-post, therefore, never waited for those who attended to the job casually. With that enterprising spirit, Prince Shittu left Warri in present Delta State for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, convinced that he would be better-off running a business for himself. So, in 1984 when he relocated to Port Harcourt, he knew he was done with a salary-job after a good discharge with his records of service from the NPA.
He subsequently established ‘Skelas,’ coined from the abbreviation of the names of members of his family. Applying his experience of working in Koko Port, he keyed into the business of customs brokerage, a business he considered easy to start on mainly goodwill. That was how he started at the Airport in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and gradually built a clientele based on honesty of purpose.
Customer satisfaction from his company operations has sustained him. Several other customs agents have had to refer to him for recommendations for jobs from clients who have built trust in his brand. His company has also run its operations on retainership from big business ventures over the year.
Prince Shittu entered into a partnership with the communication network provider, ECONET, bringing the business to Port Harcourt, Rivers State during the early days of the telecommunication service provision in Nigeria. But the operation was soon closed. Therefore, considering the importance of ownership composition beyond one man who had established the business, he opened up the business to other people, making a retired Assistant Comptroller-General of customs the chairman of the company. The business operations have benefitted from the chairman’s vast experience from the customs service.
There is a Skelas Hotel, which is affiliated to Hotel Travel Service, which helps hotel owners reposition their business for a fee. The company’s subsidiaries are run by complementary heads, who only seek his attention at critical times. He plans to quit from the port after his term as president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), just to settle down to other areas like farm management.
As a matter of policy, Skelas gives out parcels of land to staffers who have served up to 10 years with the company. This strategy has helped to motivate and retain its dedicated workforce. In the same vein, it assists ambitious members of staff to get operational license, to help them become successful as well.
He was Chairman, Port Harcourt Airport Chapter of ANLCA in 1986, and later served as National Publicity Secretary, ANLCA from 1999 to 2003. In 2012, he got the membership of the International Federation of Customs Brokers Association (IFCBA) in Greece, and joined the IFCBA India in 2014, while that of Shangai, China was in 2016.
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