Seafarers’ Board: ITF Condemns call for Resignation of Executives

Tayo oladipupo |

The International Transport Federation (ITF) representative in Nigeria, Thomas Kewemerigha has condemned the call for the resignation of the Chairman and Secretary of the Nigeria Seafarers’ Welfare Board (NSWB), Otunba Kunle Folarin and Hosea Kuje respectively.

He therefore called for the auditing of the board’s account to satisfy the curiosity of those calling for their resignation even as he said that the board members were rendering selfless service to the nation.

Recall that the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association and Concerned Seafarers recently called for the resignation of the chairman and secretary of the board on the allegation of over staying in office.

The bodies also alleged that the duo have flouted the regulations of the board by occupying the positions for more than a decade each saying the position should be rotational with each occupant leaving after two years.

But Kemewerigha told our correspondent that the duo did not deserve the humiliation they were being exposed to because of their sacrifice and commitment to the board.

He added that the body would have been closed down in Nigeria if not for the two officials who held sway for the seafarers’ board over the years.

As a result, Kemewerigha who is a former president of Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNOWTSSA) has called for the auditing of the body’s activities to fathom if they are culpable in any way.

According to him, if the board members are found wanting, they should be prosecuted and if not, the people calling for their resignation should apologise to them.

He said, “There is no need to scrap the welfare board rather we should encourage it and make it mandatory for all the end users of seafarers, the unions, NPA, Shippers’ Council and NIMASA as the custodian of welfare of seafarers to be contributing every month to the welfare board fund in Nigeria.

“If they want to remove them, they should write to NIMASA to replace Kuje, they should audit the account, if possible publish the account and at the end of the day, if any of such things they are assuming does not happen, they should tender apology to the people concerned.

“They should audit the account and if they are found wanting, they should indict them and if they find them innocent, they should apologise to them,” he reiterated.

Speaking further, the ITF representative accused the components bodies of the board in Nigeria for not doing their due diligence in terms of contributing to the welfare fund for the body to carry out its activities.

He maintained that NIMASA has been the only organisation paying the subscription of the board to ITF in London on yearly basis that is why the body has not been scrapped by the parent body.

“All the components that make up the welfare board are not paying their dues as they are supposed to pay because the welfare board is not a profit making organisation.

“Every welfare board centre pays subscription to the centre in London.”