Seafarers charge Moghalu not to pay lip service to staff welfare

Segun Oladipupo |

Seafarers branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called on the management of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) not to pay lip service to promises it made to stakeholders at the recent engagement in Lagos.

Francis Bunu, President, seafarers branch of the union, made the call saying several engagements in the past amounted to nothing hence, the need for the new Managing Director, Dr. George Moghalu, to take the issues discussed at the meeting seriously.

Bunu told the NIWA MD that the purpose of most of the meetings of past MDs was to make money from the government but not intended to develop the sector.

He, therefore, called on the Authority to carry stakeholders along in its engagement as well as make the welfare of the workers paramount.

His words, “We have written several letters to your office both the past and the present, to be able to finetune some things on the waterways.

“What we are doing here, several people have done that we drink and dance together and we go.

“Several meetings have been called and we don’t want to believe that this one will be like others in the past.

“You are doing this thing for the country to make money not to develop manpower in the waterways.

“The state government has signed MoU with us on how to make money and you too will come and sign on how to make money but what happens to the people that help to make the money?”, he queried.

Editing by ‘Biodun Soyele