Yemisi Izuora
Trade unions in Nigeria have threatened a three-day strike later this week that could shut down port operations across the country.
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, while issuing the threat demanded that the government should fix the road access and traffic bottlenecks on the roads leading to the ports and threatens to start a nationwide warning strike of three days beginning on Wednesday.
“The implications are huge to the Nigerian economy and employment creation. The government must address the condition of the roads and find lasting solution to the gridlock,” representatives of the union said.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, said it wasn’t on strike, but maritime workers were free to go on a strike if such an action draws the attention of the government to the problem with the roads.
The Federal Government has appealed to the MWUN union not to proceed with the strike, saying that government intervention in fixing the problems was delayed by the pandemic and the recent protests in Nigeria.
Last month, major oil companies asked government to boost surveillance on oil-producing and oil and infrastructure assets in Nigeria amid escalating protests against Police brutality and plans for oil job cuts.
Nigerians have been protesting against the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit for several weeks, calling for the authorities to disband it.
Rights group say that the Nigerian army and Police shot dead at least 12 peaceful protesters in Lagos in October. At times, protests across Nigeria turned into riots and looting.
Those protests haven’t spilled to Nigeria’s vital oil sector yet. The oil and gas industry accounts for around 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), while petroleum export revenue accounts for 86 percent of the total revenue from exports.