Follow Us on Google
From:TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Maritime Energy Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MEMPON) has called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the ongoing rift between the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and one of the operators at the Ports, Intels Nigerian Limited, to save the consequences of job and revenue loses.
MEMPON expressed the concern, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Wednesday evening, that if NPA insists on the termination of the “pilotage, monitoring and supervision” contract managed by Intels for the past 17 years, the country would incur huge losses in job and revenue.
President of MEMPON, Dr. Ralph John, while reacting to the impasse, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter and find a common ground to resolve the issue in order not to jeopardise the interest of Nigerian workers in Intels.
John added that government should ascertain where the relationship got soured and rectify it quickly.
He noted: “Intels recently dropped over 1,500 staff, which means that, if the recent contract termination is allowed to stand, the possibility is that more workers will lose their jobs”.
Dr. John argued that though the NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala -Usman, explained that a new company would take over the contract and staff, that might not be easily achieved with the desired results, considering the Nigerian working environment .
“If you look at the mutiplier effect of the job losses, in fact, there is therefore, need for President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter. The reason is that government policies ought to be people-oriented.
“While government is doing everything in its powers to create jobs, it should not on the other hand throw people out of job”, he stated.
The MEMPON president urged Intels management to see themselves as being within the system and respect authorities and government, pointing out that Usman’s grouse might be that several attempts to get the company to comply with government directives were not heeded to.
“The issue should not be allowed to linger considering the huge investment Intels has made in Nigeria; particularly in the oil and gas industry.
“Most of the places developed and workable today at the Oil and Gas Free Zones were developed by Intels with the cooperation of Nigerian Ports Authority. Those places were swamps and today, they are motorable and businesses can be done in them.
“We should not scare away investors by the kind of decisions we take. That is not to say that companies must not submit themselves to authorities and government. It may affect Nigerian economy, if Intels decides to withdraw its activities and look to nearby countries that are oil and Gas inclined”, John warned.
