The Nigerian Ports Authority NPA has appealed to theMaritime Workers Union of Nigeria MWUN to shelve its planned strike action against the International Oil Companies IOCs operating in the country, which is designed to shut down their operations at all seaports and oil terminals with effect from Tuesday, March 1 2022.

This is sequel to a peace meeting hosted by the Managing Director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello- Koko with the leadership of the union in Lagos, Friday.

MWUN, the umbrella association for port workers in the country, had recently threatened to cripple port operations nationwide, over alleged refusal of the IOCs to allow the stevedoring companies and their workers, who are members of the union to access their platforms, thus denying them wage earning opportunities as provided by extant laws of the land.

The NPA has also urged Customs Brokerage agents to suspend their one-week old protest against the Vehicle Identification Number VIN Valuation System recently introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service in the interest of the nation’s economy.

A statement by the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications unit of the NPA, Ibrahim Nasiru, said the NPA MD at the meeting urged the union leaders not to deviate from the path of peace and industrial harmony the union has cultivated over the years. He also admonished that dialogue remains a veritable tool to address every agitation, be it at the work place or in the larger society.

The NPA helmsman had reminded the union leaders that shutting down port operations would generate several negative ripple effects far beyond the port industry. “It is very important we keep the ports open for business 24 hours daily, this is our cardinal mandate as a port administration and I expect your union as a critical stakeholder to continue to partner us to maintain and sustain this mandate”, he said.

While recognising and appreciating the important roles played by the dockworkers in the maritime industry, Bello- Koko disclosed that the authority in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transport is already making efforts to ensure that the IOCs allow appointed Stevedores and dockworkers access to their platforms as stipulated by law.

President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, while assuring the meeting of the union’s consideration to defer the planned strike, expressed the union’s satisfaction with the intervention by the Bello Koko led management.

According to him, “we commend the NPA as our landlord and parent employer, we are happy with the MD’s intervention and confidence building words; we will consider shelving the planned strike pending the outcome of further meetings. We are doing this as a show of respect to your office and in the interest of peace and industrial harmony in our maritime industry” he stated.

It was however gathered that an enlarged meeting of relevant stakeholders to discuss and resolve all issues of concern has been scheduled for today, Monday, February 28, 2022.

In a related development, the NPA MD has entreated customs agents protesting against the new Vehicle Identification Number VIN Valuation System recently introduced by Customs to sheath their swords and embrace dialogue in resolving all their complaints against the new method of computing customs duty on imported vehicles.

The NPA MD who was at the Tin-Can Island Port, last Friday, on a site inspection of some infrastructure projects, explained that any disruption in the supply chain would lead to higher cost and longer delivery time for shipments, adding that such a situation reflects negatively on the bottom line of all players involved in port business, including government agencies.

“My appeal to our customs agents and freight forwarders is to engage the Nigeria Customs Service, rather than resort to self-help or take actions that would promote port congestion and all the challenges that come with it. As the landlord and technical regulator, we will be working with sister government agencies to ensure that Nigeria’s seaports remain business friendly and globally competitive”, the MD also said.