By Uzor Odigbo
The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has decried irregularities in the employment structure of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), stating that the number of senior staff is far higher than the junior staff.
The President of the union’ s NPA branch, Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli while commending the management of NPA under Hadiza Bala Usman for opening the window of employment after almost a decade, maintained that the authority should cease the opportunity to correct the anomaly.
The union President pointed out that the NPA is currently short staffed of junior workers, even as he appealed to management to engage more hands in the lower cadre, to boost the agency’s field operations.
According to Mazeli, the junior officers who are the operational officers are fewer in number compared to the senior officers dishing out instructions.
He however stated that the ongoing employment exercise in the agency should be used to correct what he referred to as anomaly.
Mazeli noted: “One thing is for something to be done perhaps rightly or something to be done perhaps wrongly but the intention is what the person wants to achieve and where it is done wrongly, we will demand for more.
“Like now this employment is a welcome development, we really applaud the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority for this good gesture and we are extending our regards to the federal government for approving it.
“But if you look at the system now we are not maintaining a pyramid structure
“We have a situation where the top is heavier than the bottom. I mean the officers cadre is heavier than the junior staff cadre that is doing the work.”
He also stressed that “So much as there is an opening or window for employment, we are saying we should use this opportunity to correct this anomaly where we will have more of the workers.
As a result of the shortfall in the number of junior staff, Mazeli said that about two hundred jetties are presently unmanned in Nigeria.
He stated further that the deficit in junior staff members is also responsible for under declaration among shipping companies bringing goods into the country thereby leading to leakage in revenue to the government.
“Let me give you an example, we have over two hundred jetties unmanned. If you look these concessionaires, there is no staff that is monitoring whatever they are bringing and if they declare lower, you will take it because you don’t have your people there to ascertain the actual figure.
“That is why we say this is the job that belongs to junior workers.
“In a situation where you have more officers than junior workers in operational field, I think it is not a welcome development.
“We appreciate that there is employment going on but we are asking that this employment should be used to correct the anomaly that is existing so that we will have more junior workers and not where ten officers are giving one staff command,” he said.
