NLC Will Rekindle Confrontation To Sustain Struggle Against Bad Policy, Adeyanju Vows

NLC Will Rekindle Confrontation To Sustain Struggle Against Bad Policy, Adeyanju Vows

• Deplores Parlous State of Access Roads To Apapa, Onne Ports, Others

President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, has lamented the parlous state of roads leading to Apapa ports, describing the roads as “quite appalling and a slap’ on the face of Nigerians” insisting that organised labour will rekindle confrontation to sustain the struggle against bad governance and policies.
Adeyanju, who made the assertion in Lagos at the monthly roundtable of the Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), wondered how a government could not fix the port access roads in eight years of its regime.
Citing the Mile Two–Tin Can axis as an eyesore, he noted that the highway had been taken over by artisans and food vendors, who he said, did all manner of things on the road due to lack of care, lamenting that it was unfortunate that for eight years, the outgoing administration could not do something to fix the port access roads in spite of the hues and cries of all stakeholders.
“There’s no monitoring of any sort. The Nigerian Ports Authority is not doing anything to curtail the abuse on the highway. Even though it is a federal road, the NPA has the responsibility of ensuring the free movement of vehicles and people on the road,” he said.
He also deplored the state of the road leading to the Onne Port in Rivers State, saying it could take a traveller a whole day to commute between Port Harcourt and the seaport.
Adeyanju, who is also the Vice President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), expressed optimism that the incoming administration should intervene to right the wrongs in the system or the NLC will go back to its traditional way to fight for the people
“We don’t want the incoming government to force the NLC to go back to the Adams Oshomhole and Hassan Sumonu’s regime where the union was very confrontational,” he said but hinged his optimism was hinged on the fact that the incoming President is a democrat and activist, who he believes, will and should see things from the people’s perspective
On the general clamour for a separate ministry for maritime activities, the labour leader said what mattered was efficiency in governance and not the proliferation of establishments, adding: “Even if you create a new ministry for maritime and it remains still business as usual, nothing will change.”
He charged the incoming regime of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to seriously consider appointing only technocrats to head the maritime agencies for efficient service delivery.
Adeyanju cited developments in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), where he noted how a career person, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who rose through the ranks to be appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was doing exploits.
He also charged the incoming regime to decentralise port operations in Lagos by making the eastern ports more functional so that people could easily use any of the ports there to bring in and ship out goods.
Adeyanju, who further charged the authorities to begin to shift attention to Port Harcourt, Onne, Warri, Koko and Calabar ports, as a way of bringing shipping closer to the people, as the only way to go, faulted the establishment of the Lekki Deep Seaport where in its present location, wondering whether the government would demolish the houses and other structures surrounding the place.