Union Seeks More Powers For NPA As Commercial Regulator

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has urged the Federal Government to appoint the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as the commercial regulator of ports in Nigeria.
Secretary General of MWUN, Mr Aham Ubani, said in Lagos that NPA should be saddled with the responsibility of regulating activities at the ports.
“The NPA has been at the ports from inception, so it should be left to continue with the job.
“Bringing in any other agency would only mean duplicating the job of NPA,’’ he said.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has urged the Federal Government to appoint the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as the commercial regulator of ports in Nigeria.
Secretary General of MWUN, Mr Aham Ubani, said in Lagos that NPA should be saddled with the responsibility of regulating activities at the ports.
“The NPA has been at the ports from inception, so it should be left to continue with the job.
“Bringing in any other agency would only mean duplicating the job of NPA,’’ he said.
Ubani said that the NPA had the workforce and the experience to ensure that the job was done well.
“I believe that if the government gives the regulatory powers to NPA, shouts of arbitrary charges at the nation’s ports would be a thing of the past,’’ he said.
Ubani also spoke on the wages of workers in the maritime sector, saying that the union had yet to negotiate the benchmark it desired for its members.
“Like most Nigerian workers and globally, the wages do not equate the energy the workers put into the job,’’ he said.
He said that the union had been able to negotiate the conditions of service for the dock workers.
“Talking about the dock workers and their wages, they may not be enjoying the best of wages now, but there has been a drastic change after drawing up conditions of service for them,’’ he said.
Ubani said that the conditions of service allowed the union to renegotiate the dock workers’ wages every two years “and it is always an upward review’’.
He urged workers in the maritime sector to always plan no matter how little their wages were.
According to him, planning will go a long way in helping them in future.
“My advice to our members is that there is no amount of money paid to us that will be enough, so we must learn to leave within our means.
“The union is now training members to be ready for the future no matter how little their salaries or wages may be now,’’ he said.