Over 6,000 maritime workers lost their jobs in the last one year - Nted

> Over 6,000 workers in the maritime sector have lost their jobs in the last one year

> This is due to the current economic recession Nigeria is facing

> This was disclosed by the President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Emmanuel Anthony Nted

The President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Mr Emmanuel Anthony Nted has revealed that over 6,000 workers in the maritime sector have lost their jobs in the last one year.

Over 6,000 maritime workers lost their jobs in the last one year - Nted

Nted who stated this on Thursday, December 21 in Lagos, at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) and Special Delegates Conference, said besides the job loss, many companies in the sector had folded up.

He also said several shipping companies had relocated to other countries due to the prevailing economic situation.

According to Daily Sun, he lamented that the union was facing a very difficult task of protecting the jobs of members in all the branches.

His words: “The economic recession is really affecting and biting the union very hard. I feel sad to say that over 6000 members of our union have lost their jobs since the recession began and many more are facing job insecurity, thus exposing the lives of their families to serious jeopardy.

“In fact, Intels alone retrenched over 3,000 workers because of harsh operating environment. Many shipping companies have been forced to close shop and have since relocated to other countries, thus compounding the job crisis in the industry.

“We sincerely implore the government to find urgent solution to recession before things go out of hand.

“Our government seems genuinely concerned about the level of hardship in the country, but does not seem to know what to do to end the recession. Hence, we call on all Nigerians to seek the intervention of God through their prayers because without God, all things are impossible.”

Meanwhile, The federal government has approved the closure of nine foreign missions as part of its measures to reduce the cost of running Nigeria’s foreign representations due to the economic recession.

Similarly, Nigeria is looking for financial and legal advisers and trustee firms as preparations are in top gear to organise the country's first Islamic bond in the domestic market.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) is working on a debut sovereign sukuk but has yet to determine the size of a potential deal.

Nigeria needs to raise funds to plug a budget deficit as the economic recession in the country bites harder.