Many food- and drug-laden imported containers are currently left at the Lagos Port to rot following the refusal of workers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to attend cargo examination processes due to an ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies of NAFDAC (an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress) over unresolved promotion controversies and welfare concerns.

A visit to the ports on Monday revealed that many of the clearing agents handling food and drug-related cargoes were seen fuming over the delay those cargoes were being subjected to.

According to a cross-section of the clearing agents, ?many cargoes containing drugs and food items are currently trapped inside the ports because NAFDAC workers have been on strike since last week Monday.

?When the strike started, we thought it was something that would be settled within days. Today makes it exactly one week since the workers began their strike, and nothing seems forthcoming yet.

?Some of the cargoes have perishable items inside them that may get bad by the time workers of NAFDAC return to the ports. Customs officers are on the ground, but they cannot do NAFDAC jobs. NAFDAC has the sole right to inspect containers that contain food and drug items.

?Aside from the fact that some of the items in the containers may go bad, the containers are accumulating storage charges inside the port. You know the port is not a storage warehouse, so for every single day extra that those cargoes spend inside the ports, the owners are paying.

?This is unfair, and it?s imperative that the supervising ministry intervenes to save importers from the ongoing losses,? they said.

When contacted, the Resident Media Consultant of the NAFDAC DG, Mr Sayo Akintola, explained that the reasons advanced by the striking workers against the agency are not true.

In the words of Mr Sayo Akintola, ?Whether it is a matter of promotion or estacode, NAFDAC under Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has been following the rules and is committed to promoting workers? welfare.

?The NAFDAC DG has told the workers that management is not in charge of the number of people to promote. Management is only responsible for conducting exams. The office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOS) is always responsible for allocating available vacancies that the government can pay for.

?It is not that there is a vacancy and we are not promoting. It is what the government can pay for that they approve as a vacancy every year. It is not different from any other agency.

?On the issue of estacode, as raised by the striking workers, the NAFDAC boss has said there is nothing wrong with the agency?s estacode policy. The workers are just playing in the gallery. Our staff has always been paid their due estacode, and so that is not an issue.

?We are not different from any other agency. The estacode will be paid when the evidence of the trip is presented. We have never owed any staff any travel allowance.? (Tribune)

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