In a statement in Lagos, the MWUN President said the sack was a fallout of the ban on importation of some commodities in the country.
Emmanuel urged the Federal Government to review certain economic policies, especially those on importation of some items, saying that it was wrong to ban those items without alternatives.
He said: “As an import-dependent country, Nigeria cannot suddenly ban the importation of principal goods being generally consumed in the country.”
Emmanuel said the policy had sent 20 shipping firms out of the country because of dwindling balance sheets. He appealed to the government to lift the ban on items: such as wheat, vehicle spare parts and machineries, until the nation could produce them.
“As a remedy, the union, however, demanded for a review of the ban. Failure to do this, will encourage smuggling, diversion of ships to neighbouring countries, idle ports, retrenchment of workers, unemployment and general loss of revenue to government,” he said.
He also spoke of revenue loss through under-declaration, attributing this to the sack of some dockworkers – tally clerks and on-board securitymen.
Emmanuel said the position of the union was that tally clerks and on-board security men be recalled. According to him, when the union members were in-charge of tallying cargoes and securing the cargoes on board ships, there were no cases of loss of revenue.
