Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the maritime branch of the Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transportation and Corporation (SSACTAC) on Tuesday shut down Seaports across the country to protest against which seeks to privatise some aspect of Nigeria Seaports.
The bill is titled: ‘Bill for an Act to Repeal the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Act, CAP126 LFN 2004, and to Establish the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority to Provide for the Ownership, Management and Development of Ports and Harbours and for Related Matters’.
It is being sponsored in the House of Representatives by Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai, representing Ndokwa/Ukwani constituency from Delta State.
Speaking at a rally held at the Apapa Seaport on Tuesday, MWUN’s President-General, Adewale Adeyanju, said: “The purpose of this bill is to strip Nigeria of her commonwealth through further consolidation of harbour operations in the guise of amending the NPA Act of 1955.
“If this bill is passed into law, it will lead to massive job loss among our members, as item six of the second schedule of the bill says not all the staff of the NPA will be absorbed into the Nigeria Ports Harbour Authority. In other words, the bill will send a large number of NPA staff to the labour market, including the dock workers, seamen and other relevant stakeholders in the port industry. Besides, the bill does not make provision for how, when and who will pay those who are not going to be absorbed by the new proposed arrangement.”
