Workers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) went wild in jubilation midweek, following the promotion of 1,500 staffers.
The promotion which was approved by the board of the parastatal ends years of workers’ stagnation which had led to industrial disharmony in the organisation.
It was gathered that the last promotion exercise witnessed by the workers occurred about a decade ago.
The elated Presidents of the house unions, the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASGOC), Comrades Bodunde and his Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) counterpart, Francis Bunu, all praised the magnanimity of the Managing Director of NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, for breaking the jinx of stagnation of career progression in the organization.
Commenting on the development, Dr Dantsoho reiterated that human capital development constitutes the key strategy for creating and sustaining superior performance under his watch.
According to him, ‘talent development constitutes a critical success factor for the actualization of the big airy audacious goals we have set for ourselves especially in the area of Port competitiveness.
‘The only way we can meet and indeed exceed Stakeholders’ expectations is to deepen the competencies of our human resources assets and boost their morale’.
The NPA boss further, commended the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for approving the strategic proposal of the Dantsoho-led management team that solved the over a decade-long problem of lack of promotion that had fuelled industrial disharmony.
‘I must specially appreciate our amiable Minister for graciously approving the multi-pronged stratagem we deployed that cleared all outstanding cases of employee stagnation by conducting examinations in one fell swoop and instituted timelines to forestall a recurrence of such anomaly’, he said.
An elated President of the joint maritime labour unions, Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Bodunde stated, ‘In addition to clearance of the backlog of stagnated promotions, we also wish to express our appreciation for the increase in productivity bonuses, provision of end-of-year welfare packages for staff, and the revision of the Financial Guide to the Condition of Service, which now addresses our members’ concerns about inflationary pressures’.
According to a release by Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, NPA’s General Manager Corporate & Strategic Communications, Dantsoho explained further that ‘our Port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive will go hand in hand with continuous staff welfare improvement’.
