Port workers have threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on Tuesday, over their disagreement with some sections of the Ports and Harbour Bill recently passed by the Senate. This they claim could lead to massive job losses.

The bill which revolves around the efficient and more profitable management of the Nigerian Maritime space is currently awaiting passage by the House of Representatives. The protest organized by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC), Maritime Branch would be carried out simultaneously in all the seaports.

According to a MWUN source, the decision was due to failure by the National Assembly to respond to letters written by the two unions, opposing some sections of the Ports and Harbour Bill. “We are mobilizing our members in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onne, Warri and Calabar, for the demonstration. The protests will hold simultaneously in all the ports from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. We are opposed to any attempt to further strip Nigerians of their rights through further concession in the guise of amending the NPA Act, 1955 as amended. The provision of item 6 in the second schedule of the bill is repulsive. It provides that every staff of NPA would not be absorbed in the Ports and Harbour Authority. No provision is made for what fate would befall those workers that would be affected including how and who pays their terminal benefits,” Felix Akingboye, the Secretary-General of MWUN, said.

Anita Fatunji