Because of their penchant for stopping haulage vehicles to collect illegal fees, long stretches of vehicles are the norm. With this, over 40 ships are at anchorage at the port due to lack of space to discharge new cargoes at terminals as cargo evacuation is hampered by the multiple toll points mounted by security operatives and Presidential Task Force (PTF) members.
Truck drivers allege that they pay over N200,000 per truck at the checkpoints illegally erected on the port access roads.
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) had earlier threatened to embark on strike over the suffering its members are subjected to as a result of the gridlock. But following pacification by the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the planned strike was suspended.
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Published 24 December 2020
CONTRARY to the seeming optimism expressed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, there is nothing on the ground to show that the country would “discontinue heavy dependence on crude oil to guarantee public revenue and foreign exchange” anytime soon. Nigeria relies on oil to generate over 65 per cent of its revenue and about 90 per cent of its foreign exchange. Tellingly, the actions of the political leadership do not indicate such a single-minded proclivity towards ending the age-long debilitating dependence on oil. Having been satiated by the taste of petrodollars for too long, the oft-mouthed proposition to diversify the economy has not yielded positive change.
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The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has granted an order of interim injunction restraining the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) from embarking on or continuing any industrial action against INTELS Nigeria Limited.
The order was issued recently by the presiding judge, Hon. Justice F.I. Kola-Olalere, while ruling on an ex-parte motion in suit number NICN/PHC/155/2020 filed by INTELS.
The court also restrained the unions from preventing the staff of INTELS from entering the company’s operational areas and facilities to perform their duties.
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Joseph Olaoluwa
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has completed plans to deploy 200 security officers to Apapa and Tin-Can Ports to clear the gridlock on the routes.
The security personnel are expected to ensure that no vehicle parks along the road.
Mrs Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni, media assistant to the minister, said Amaechi disclosed this during a meeting with Maritime Stakeholders and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in Lagos.
The union had threatened to go on strike if the government failed to address the gridlock on the route.
Amaechi, however, said that there should be a steering committee headed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Magdalene Ajani, to seat monthly until the challenges were overcome.