We don’t want to lose Hadiza to politics-NPA workers beg

Tayo Oladipupo

Staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said they dreaded the prospects of the Managing Director of the agency, Hadiza Bala-Usman, of leaving the NPA to join main stream politics because the workers have come to enjoy her motherly disposition and welfare programme.

Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli, the President of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) branch of the Maritime Workers’ Union (MWUN), who made this declaration in Lagos, said Hadiza has performed to the satisfaction of all.

He added that the issue of promotion that was stagnant before she came on board has since been normalised as workers have been promoted three times since she assumed office.

“Even though she wants to venture into politics, though the workers don’t want to lose her now but I wish that she holds a sensitive political post where the interest of the people will be taken into heart because she is the one that cares for people.

“That woman can go to the rock and make water flow, she is an achiever. She did what nobody had done. She called a town hall meeting where she personally met with the workers and listened to everybody.

“Before she came, promotions used to be like five to six years but since she came, it has become intermittent.

“Before she came, it has been long we had promotion on the junior cadre but the latest one, there was consideration from the junior to senior cadre. By records, it is over three times we had promotion since she came in board,” he quipped.

He however appealed to the management of NPA to fix the lifts in all its facilities across the nation to avoid giving its members unnecessary stress in the line of duty.

The union said it was particular about the control towers in Tin Can and the Warri office of the agency.

Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli, while lauding the landmark achievements of the agency under Hadiza Bala Usman, maintained that despite what the Managing Director has done, demands will always arise after one is attended to.

According to Mazeli, the issue of the elevators formed an integral part of the communique issued at the end of the Branch Executive committee meeting held in Port Harcourt, recently.

His words, “We talked about the signal tower, the control tower, we talked about the lifts all over the federation. Exercise is good but not when you are forced to do exercise. ”

“If you want to do exercise, then it must be at your leisure but not when you are mandated to take the steps because the lifts are not working.

“They have carried out repairs on the lifts at the headquarters but we are looking at areas like Warri and Tin Can Island Port where you have to go to control tower and you climb over how many steps.

“Those are some of the areas we are looking at because when you talk about workers’ welfare, it is not just the financial aspect of it but the safety of the environment.

“We are begging the management to look into those areas because the height is something else.