The two house unions in the
Nigerian maritime industry; the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and
the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned
Companies (Maritime Branch)-SSASCGOC, on Monday, rejected the Ports and Harbour
Bill currently being deliberated upon by the National Assembly.
The Bill is seeking to repeal
the Act that set up the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
The unions argued that the
Ports and Harbour Bill as being proposed, if passed into law, would render the
employees of NPA jobless and endanger the productivity of port users.
Speaking at a joint press
conference held in Apapa, Lagos, yesterday, the unions, represented by Comrade
Adewale Adeyanju for MWUN, and his NPA counterpart, Comrade Akinola Bodunde
alleged an attempt to sneak-in the Bill into Legislation through the back door.
“We wish to note that this
said Bill if allowed to be passed into law will have far reaching grave
consequences on the security of the nation as it will cede harbour, jetty and
terminal operations into private hands”
The unions said it was not
"surprised that the bill is being vigorously sponsored by certain
unpatriotic individuals within the maritime sector, who are hell bent on
appropriating our common wealth and cornering the same into the lining of their
individual pockets and that of their cronies.
“We would have thought that
given our persistent cry and various notices pointing to the deplorable state
of our various nation’s seaports, decrepit state of port access roads,
collapsing quay aprons, and the general failure of infrastructures within our
ports, the focus of this 10 National Assembly would have been to find solutions
to the myriad of problems bedeviling our ports, terminals, Jetties and Oil and
Gas platforms and even the need to dredge all the ports particularly Calabar,
Warri, Onne etc for increased efficiency; AND not to clandestinely and
recklessly seek to misappropriate public infrastructure through unfriendly
legislation for the benefit of individuals whose only interest is capital
accumulation and not the general public good of all.
The sponsors of the bill, the unions said,
"outrightly ignored our demand to call the International Oil Companies
(IOCS) operating in our sovereign territorial economic zones, who have
snobbishly refused to obey our extant maritime regulations, standards and laws
to order but, find it expedient to sit in the comfort of their hallowed chambers
to push for laws that will be detrimental and inimical to the welfare and
wellbeing of the working class, Nigerians and our nation’ security and
sovereignty.
“The Joint House Unions’, MWUN
and SSACGOC use this medium to convey our believe to the Executive, National
Assembly and the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy that this is certainly
not the right way to go as this ploy by these selfish individuals in the
maritime sector will cause chaos and anarchy in the industry which has enjoyed
sustained peace since the idea of projecting the harsh Bill was killed in 2018
will not be allowed to come to fruition” it stated
According to the unions,
"a sneak peek into a copy of the Bill has revealed that it provides,
wholly, employment that will not be pensionable as well as not transferable and
without access to terminal benefits.
“This is the height of
inconsideration by the proponents of the Bill to the right of workers to the
necessary payment for services rendered by a worker, in accordance with known
law, industrial relations practice, equity and good conscience.
“It is our belief that
allowing this Bill to be passed into law will effectively institutionalise the
evil concept of casualization of workers and as well negate the provisions of
the Pension reform Act 2004 as amended. This is in direct contrast to the
avowed promises of Mr. President-Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure the
provision of about 5 million jobs for Nigerians through the newly created Ministry
of Marine and Blue Economy.
“Having said this, We, the two
in-house unions in the maritime sector -MWUN & SSASCGOC, will not fold our
hands or rest on our oars and allow few unpatriotic Nigerians within the
industry to rip-off the Nation’s common wealth and render our sector
unproductive via this infamous Bill that will only create poverty,
hopelessness, hunger and generate avid bitterness amongst the already
impoverished workers and Nigerian citizenry”
While passing their vote of
confidence on the Nigerian Ports Authority ACT as it currently relates to the
Nigerian state and the well-being of the workers in the sector, the unions
rejected all attempts to push "the hellish bill further."
Courtesy:
The Nation
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