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Maritime workers urge Federal Government to improve nation’s security, economy

By Toyin Olasinde
27 April 2017   |   4:17 am
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has urged the Federal Government to improve the nation’s security and make further attempts to get the economy out of recession.

President of Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA branch of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Comrade Adeleke Sanni, President, Water Transport branch of MWUN, Comrade Francis Bunu, and President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, at a function in Lagos.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has urged the Federal Government to improve the nation’s security and make further attempts to get the economy out of recession.

Speaking in Lagos at the fourth quadrennial delegates’ election, President General of the union, Adewale Adeyanju called on the government to improve security at the jetties, saying: “The facilities have in recent times become so decrepit to the extent that dangerous weapons are smuggled into the country thus compromising our internal security and galvanizing terrorist activities”.

He also called on government and its agencies to enforce the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Act, which stipulates that registered dockworkers should be granted access to the operations of private jetties.

He said: “Federal Government should, as a matter of national emergency, develop and fortify our water ways as means of effective transportation and provider of employment. Indeed, government should improve safety in our waterways as a possible means of cubing the activities of pirates and militancy in our waterways and environs.

“Government should also empower the relevant agencies with the means and legal base to effectively regulate the activities of private boat operators so as to streamline their operations along meaningful economic style and gains.

He added that MWUN had been in the fore front of calls on the federal government to as a matter of national emergency and importance commence the rehabilitation of the access roads to the nation’s seaports, which have become an embarrassment of monumental proportions and indeed a killer of time and men.

The President, Shipping Branch of MWUN, Uche Igwe-Onu said the new gratuity scheme proposed by employers of shipping companies for workers was still on-going.He said although, the union had noticed that some employers have demonstrated their unwillingness to continue further discussion on the issue, it was ready to pursue the issue to its logical conclusion.

Igwe-Onu therefore, urged the union to re-strategise on how to achieve this task and re-assured workers that their gratuity was safe and guaranteed.

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