Hiring a Clearing and Forwarding agent vs Doing it yourself.

Eze watches the TV fondly admiring the beautiful home-crafted TV stand.
"People think I paid a professional carpenter millions of naira... but I did it myself" he says with a smug smile.
He's told that story to everyone who admires the stand.

This morning and once again he wants to do something else by himself; clearing and forwarding.
"I'll save my money..."Eze reasons
"... and I don't have to deal with those proud consultants who could be scammers by the way. I need to remain in control."

Like Eze, doing things ourselves against seeking professional assistance may be second nature and seem a very prudent choice.
The appeal of doing it yourself (DIY) is sold by many motivational speakers in Nigeria and in cliché self-help books. DIY also  appeals to us for the following reasons:

·         It's cheaper
·         We do not have to deal with unfriendly snobby professionals
·         Fear of scams
·         Maintaining control

This article will analyze the so-called pros of doing Clearing and Forwarding yourself in Nigeria and help you decide if it's worth it.

Cost
Hiring: expensive
DIY: even more expensive
The: "hiring a Clearing and Forwarding agent is expensive" myth exists because people only notice the money paid as fees to the clearing and forwarding agent.
However stop and consider what you're actually paying for;
By hiring a Clearing and Forwarding agent, you have essentially paid for an entire process from pre-documentation to freight forwarding!
Doing it yourself isn't necessarily cheap. By being your own Clearing and Forwarding agent, you essentially still have to obtain documentation you may have no certification to and you'd have to pay for that.
Next, you'd also pay for storage for your items as they await clearance you may admittedly lack the authority to do.
Then again, if your goods fail clearing in Nigeria, they risk getting destroyed or may require an expensive back shipping. All of this is extra costs can be avoided by hiring a Clearing and Forwarding agent.

Customer service
DIY: better
Hiring: it depends
President Muhammadu Buhari once excused his medical tourism as a response to the unfriendly attitude of health workers in Nigeria. It's sad but it's true.
Like healthcare, Clearing and forwarding is a communication intensive process and it is nice to have a pleasant Clearing and Forwarding agent.
Because most agents in Nigeria are unfriendly and have poor communication skills, many would rather spare themselves the poor attitude of agents and take upon Clearing and Forwarding themselves.
But not all clearing and forwarding agents are exactly unfriendly. Just like not all healthcare workers in Nigeria are unfriendly. (curb your excuse Mr. President.)
  The agents at Vagmon e-Grup& Logistics Ltd are very much nice to deal with, at least we can confirm from their over 25 years of existence. Their agents are polite and ensure that you're carried along every step of the way.

Scams
DIY: nonexistent
Hiring: scams are real
One of the reasons people do things themselves is to reduce the risk of falling prey to fraud. With Clearing and Forwarding, the risk is even greater as it involves trusting an agent that is reasonably far away with something as important as imported goods! By doing it yourself, you do not have to worry about that.
   How can you avoid falling victim to Clearing and Forwarding scams? Deal only with trusted clients registered to clear and forward in Nigeria. You can get information from the Nigeria port authority.

Maintaining control
DIY: total control
Hiring: ceding control
We all desire to have authority over anything we're doing. It is why Eze made his TV stand himself. People always try to take on tasks often out of their jurisdiction until well, it gets out of hand.
  Clearing and Forwarding doesn't have to go awry before you call in the professionals.
Doing Clearing and Forwarding yourself, you might enjoy the satisfaction of being responsible for your imports. But by hiring, you put your business in professional hands that are admittedly more responsible than you to clear and forward goods in Nigeria. For professional clearing and forwarding in Nigeria I recommend Vagmon e-Grup& Logistics Ltd, a Nigerian top and reliably clearing and forwarding company with decades of experience in the industry.

Eze's decision
Eze, mentioned at the outset, after prudent contemplation; wisely opted to get a Clearing and Forwarding agent for his imported goods.
He explains:
"By hiring, I sure ceded some of my control; but guess what? I got it back in shared responsibility and insurance."
"When you hire a clearing and forwarding agent, you essentially take out an insurance on the process and that is worth its weight in cost of any feeling of satisfaction of doing it yourself."