“NPA to employ more staff soon with over 60 percent junior staff to bridge workforce gap’ – Comrade Ajayi exudes confidence
"NPA to employ more staff soon with over 60 percent junior staff to bridge workforce gap' - Comrade Ajayi exudes confidence
Segun Oladipupo
The President of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) branch of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Bamidele Alex Ajayi, has expressed confidence that management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has concluded plans to recruit more staff with junior cadres taking about sixty to seventy percent of the total employees in order to close the gap between the senior and junior staff in the organisation.
Speaking with journalists in his office on Wednesday, Ajayi dismissed claims that the union is not concerned about the workers’ welfare, stressing that such notions are unfounded.
He pointed out that efforts are ongoing to address staffing shortage in the junior workforce.
He explained that employing more hands is necessary because of about 248 unmanned jetties across the country that could be used to import dangerous weapons into the country.
According to him, both the immediate past administration of MWUN and the present one have informed the federal government of the necessity to employ more hands to help block the porous jetties and terminals.
His words, “Before this administration, we wrote letters to management and the minister to highlight the staffing needs,” adding that these efforts have continued under the current President General , who has sent two letters regarding the issue.
He also disclosed that federal government approval for new staff employment has already been secured, though the exact numbers remain confidential.
“We believe a reasonable number has been approved, and that 60 to 70 percent of those employed should be junior staff. This is expected to happen within the next few months,” Ajayi stated.
The NPA Branch President reiterated that the employment of junior cadres will further address issues bothering on unmanned jetties across the littoral states which in turn will address security challenges of the country.
“Those who say the union does not have the interest of the workers at heart is a very wrong notion.
“On our own, before this dispensation, I discussed with the former PG and they wrote a letter to the management and the letter was sent to the minister because in Nigeria today, we have nothing less than 248 jetties in Nigeria today and looking at the NPA, we should have at least two staff to manage each jetty for economic and security purposes
“With my findings, I found out that the federal government has approved the employment of staff but I may not want to disclose the figure for now because it is a classified information. I believe a reasonable number has been approved by the federal government for employment.
“Our thinking is that if they will employ workers, 60 to 70 percent of the employees should be junior staff and I believe that is what is going to happen and it is going to be in the next few months,” he submitted.
