Apparently worried by the emergence of yet another fake group masquerading as merchant navy, the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association has alerted the public, especially, members of the shipping community.
The association, which is the umbrella body for all senior merchant navy personnel in Nigeria spoke through its national president; Engineer, Mathew Alalade, who pointedly warned against falling prey tp the antics of this body, which according to him is called – Nigeria Merchant Navy Regiment District.
Apparently worried by the emergence of yet another fake group masquerading as merchant navy, the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association has alerted the public, especially, members of the shipping community.
The association, which is the umbrella body for all senior merchant navy personnel in Nigeria spoke through its national president; Engineer, Mathew Alalade, who pointedly warned against falling prey tp the antics of this body, which according to him is called – Nigeria Merchant Navy Regiment District.
The National President of the association told Shipping Position Daily in Lagos on Tuesday that there is nowhere in world that has regiment as merchant navy, even as he explained that the functions of the Nigeria Navy is quite different from that of the Merchant Navy.
Alalade said that there is nowhere in the world where merchant navy has a centre called a ‘regiment centre’, rather what they have is a seafarer centre where the welfare of seafarers who are stranded are taken proper care of.
He stressed that the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association is the only legal body for all merchant navy in the country with zones which include: shipping, fishing, offshore and National Inland Water Transport [NIWA], stressing that there is no zone referred to regiment center.
He said that the association has complained to Corporate Affair Commission [CAC] over the issue and that the commission is set to swing into action against the group.
‘’As the president of seafarers, I don’t want to rock the boat and I want to make the correction to them and since they are ready to be corrected. We told them that we are purely seamen so we cannot duplicate functions with armed navy and we are not armed navy”, he explained.
He also added that the group is sending a wrong signal to the Nigeria maritime community pointing out that the group had even fraudulently entered into an agreement with the Lagos state government on the removal of wrecks from the coast which later failed as a result of the intervention of his association.
He urged all players in the maritime sector to discountenance the group that claimed to be a merchant navy outfit.
‘’We are telling the maritime public that the Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association with address at number 24 Palace Road is the headquarters of the association presently and if anybody is parading himself in any capacity different from this, then it is at his own peril ‘’.
Putting a caveat , he warned that: ‘’If any organisation or individual engages self with the group without due consultation from us such person is doing it at his own peril’’.
The place they parade as their office is a seafarer centre which is located at Number 24 Marine Road Apapa and has nothing to do with our association’’, Alalade pointed out.
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