NPA salary structures lopsided, unbalanced since 2012 ―Workers

SENIOR workers of the Nigerian Ports Authority under the aegis of the Senior Staff Association of Communication Transportation and Corporation (SSACTAC) have raised the alarm that the agency’s salaries structures has been lopsided and unbalanced since 2012.

The workers raised the alarm, saying that several months after its current Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman took over, there are still a lot of inconsistencies going on in the NPA as regards salary structure.

Speaking exclusively with the Tribune Online on Tuesday, President of the NPA branch of SSACTAC; Comrade Benson Adegbeyeni alleged that some junior officers earn more than some managers in NPA. He argued that salary structures in any organisation ought to be based on rank and seniority in office, but that in NPA, it is not so.

Adegbeyeni accused a former Board Chairman of NPA of contributing to the anomaly in the salary structure based on his alleged selfishness. He revealed that the abnormal salary structure started during the tenure of former Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi and that when his successor, Ado Bayero tried to correct the structure, he was frustrated by the cabals in the system.

In his words, “There are many issues unresolved in NPA, so many things are wrong in NPA and we would continue to fight until the right thing is done. In the NPA now, there is erratic schedule in salary payment structure.

“As a Manager, an Assistant Manager or senior officer would be earning more than you and this is unfortunate. The salary structure needs to be normalised. You cannot say you are a Manager or an Executive Director and yet a labourer is earning more than you, then what makes you a Manager? It is your take home pay that makes you a Manager.

“This has been there for long, though we tried to resolve it when former MD of NPA Habib Abdulahi was there, but it was not done. When Ado Bayero came for three months, we tried to resolve it again, he took it upon himself and went to the wages commission.

“It was a former NPA Board Chairman that stopped Bayero from doing it.”

Adegbeyeni noted that the workers are the engine room facilitating the huge revenue that NPA is earning, thus they should be motivated so that they can deliver more. He stressed that without the workers, the revenue coming from NPA cannot go to the Federal Governments coffers.

“Hadiza met it on ground and we gave her room to acquaint herself with what is happening in NPA, you cannot solve all the problems in one day, but when trees fall on trees, you start to pick the first one, this is what I discussed with her (Hadiza); that is if truly she is ready to put NPA right,” he stated.

Efforts to get the Spokesman of the NPA, Effiong Nduonofit to speak on the issue proved abortive as text and calls made to his mobile phones were not responded to as at the time of filing in this report.