TheCable

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) says it will embark on a three-day warning strike from December 7 to protest the deplorable state of access roads to seaports in Lagos state.

In a communique issued after its national executive council meeting in Lagos on Saturday, MWUN said the situation was no longer tolerable.

The communique was signed by Adewale Adeyanju, the president-general of the union, and Felix Akingboye, the secretary-general.

It said that the poor state of the access roads had made articulated vehicles to block them, putting other road users through pains of losing man-hours and facing risks of accidents.

“The NEC in-session wishes to draw the attention of the federal government once again to the deplorable state of the access roads to the Lagos seaports and the dangers this poses to lives and property,” the communique read.

“To avoid unnecessary deaths as well as the loss of man-hour on the failed roads, the NEC in-session hereby calls on the Federal Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to urgently fix the access roads and make them motorable,” it said.

MWUN said that it’s NEC in-session unanimously approved the central working committee’s recommendation that the union proceeds on a three-day warning strike to make known its disappointment over the total neglect of the access roads to Lagos ports by successive governments, and the urgent need for government to repair the roads.

“From Second Rainbow to the ports, in the last three weeks, it takes not less than five to seven hours to access the ports depending on when you get trapped,” it explained.

“When you are leaving the ports, you even spend more hours from the ports to the same Second Rainbow.

“A lot of innocent lives have been lost, many have been maimed by hoodlums who rob and dispose of victims of their belongings.

“Many of our workers do not get home until midnight or even much later. The same thing happens to other users of Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

“Many businesses have relocated out of Apapa and its environs to neighbouring countries because of the failed access roads. The implications are huge for the Nigerian economy and employment creation.

“It has not only affected businesses but also revenues of the government.

“We wish to call on the federal ministry of works and housing to hasten discussions with NPA, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and all the shipping companies responsible for the perennial gridlock that has bedevilled the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, with a view to finding a lasting solution to the problem.”

The union said that response from the government would determine its next line of action after the warning strike.