Tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom on warpath with NURTW/RTEAN over alleged exploitation
Crisis is brewing in Akwa Ibom between tricycles operators and the leaderships of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN over an alleged exploitation and illegal levies.
Morenews.ng can authoritatively report that already Tricycle Management Committee, Akwa Ibom State, has staged a six point ‘Say No’ campaign insisting that “NURTW/RTEAN is not a union for Tricycle in Nigeria” and directing its members to reject NURTW and RTEAN and their exploitation.
Morenews.ng also gathered that Tricycle Management Committee had a meeting with some tricycle operators in Uyo recently where they resolved to resist every attempt by the leaderships of NURTW and RTEAN to exploit them.
Tricycle Management Committee also directed Tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom to register only with any one of the four (4) Approved Government tricycle Union in the state namely: TOAN, KORA, AKTA and TOFF.
Among the TRICYCLE OPERATORS in Akwa Ibom’s SAY ‘NO’ TO NURTW/RTEAN exploitation is “Say ‘NO’ to illegal daily Ticket of 300.00″.
The Committee had rued the purported daily ticket issued by NURTW and RTEAN and warned that on no account should its member by the ticket except “one unified Ticket of 200.00 from the state government across the 31 local government areas in the state”.
Tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom also rejected the emblem of 6,000.00 and renewal of same yearly as well as the Security fee of 2000.00 from NURTW/RTEAN in
Ikot Ekpene, Etinan, Mkpat Enin, Abak, Eket, and Oron Local Government Areas.
Tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom are equally say ‘NO’ to 325,000.00 Route Registration from NURTW/RTEAN and yearly renewal of same.
“We are saying saying ‘NO’ to City Permit of 15,000.00 from NURTW/RTEAN, ‘NO’ to illegal collection of money for stamping of KEKE from NURTW/RTEAN, ‘NO’ to illegal TASK FORCE at night in any Local Government Area, ‘NO’ to illegal payment of 300.00 as monthly dues to NURTW/RTEAN, ‘NO’ to social vices such as: Rape, Cultism, Stealing and fraudulent acts. Enough of this exploitation and illegality,” one tricycle operator told Morenews.ng, echoing the decision of Tricycle Management Committee of Akwa Ibom State.
The Commissioner, Ministry of Transport and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Uno Etim Uno reportedly ordered NURTW inscriptions on tricycles
to be cleaned off.
But the State Coordinator, Tricycle Branch of NURTW, Comrade Ubong Jimmy accused the Commissioner of Transport of oppressing and robbing tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom of their right, thereby causing problem and not allowing them to have dividends of unionism in the transport sector of the State.
He also accused Hon Uno Etim Uno of instigating Tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom against NURTW.
In his words: “The four transport Association, adopted by Ministry of Transport and Petroleum Resources are not recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Because, the same Trade Union act that established Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ among other Unions, the same act that established NURTW as a Trade Union under Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. We have the same right as NUT and NUJ.
“There are Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria, TOAN, you can underline ‘Association;’ Keke Owners and Riders Association, KORA; Akwa Ibom Tricycle Association, AKTA; Tricycle Owners Foundation and Forum, TOFF.
“These four Associations are not union but the instrument of Akwa Ibom State Government to inflict suffering on the Tricycle Operators in Akwa Ibom. Only NURTW is recognized by the Constitution of Nigeria as a Union. But the Ministry of Transport now uses these four Associations to oppress the right of NURTW, thereby causing problems to the transporters in the State. Like when the transporters have issues that the Union should go and intervene, unfortunately these four Associations do not have such capacity.
“The NURTW, which they know, has that capacity but they don’t allow us to surface so that the transporters will not know that there is Union. It is sad that the Ministry of Transport adopted them to operate as a union which they are not. There are causing mayhem on the streets. Like last weekend there went and interrupted a meeting which Federal Road Safety Corps invited NURTW to attend. They go about erasing logo of NURTW on keke, intimidating, beating keke operators in the process, and even vandalising their keke. They forced tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom to join these Associations as union. This is very painful.
“The tickets sellers told me when I went to ascertain the information that the Ministry of Transport issued a circular only to keke with NURTW logo.
“I don’t know if the government doesn’t want peace. I know the right of the Union. We are to sell check up dues to our members but Ministry of Transport is doing that. They gave it to Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service as consultant in collaboration with Ministry of Transport. There are selling the tickets to our members and they don’t remit it to us and as a result of that we don’t remit our dues to NLC. The quarter we should pay out tax to, we can not. The Ministry of Transport has used the influence of Akwa Ibom State Government to oppressed the union.
“One of our newly registered members went to register his MOT and there went and erased NURTW logo.
“This means that the Government is involved. They should be checking those who got tickets and are out to impound any keke with NURTW logo from Monday. I don’t know who gave them such power to go out of their lines of duty. If these circulars were given by Ministry of Transport, it therefore means that Akwa Ibom State Government is responsible. The circular issued to NURTW/RTEAN but there don’t attack RTEAN,” Jimmy stressed.
The contending issue the feud between tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom and NURTW/RTEAN revolves around who has the legal right to control the affairs of tricycle operators in the state.
Similar issue had been the subject of legal battle in Lagos between Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria, TOAN, and NURTW/RTEAN that saw TOAN obtained a court order recognizing it as the authentic body responsible for the day to day running of Tricycle operators in that state.
But in 2019 the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association Nigeria, RTEAN, went ahead and registered their own version of Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria, TOOAN, the development TOAN described as unlawful.
The then Acting Chairman of the branch, Chief Comrade Tunji Oyeniyinoted that the tricycle sector of NURTW was prohibited from operating as a union by virtue of section 2 and 45 of the Trade Union Act.
“The statutory or lawfully registered and officially recognized body to organize tricycle owners and operators as a trade union,” Oyeniyi observed.
He noted that both the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria and the break-away faction of TOOAN cannot be called a trade union as all other existing association of tricycle owners and operators are registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) by virtue of section 603 (1).
He said in a judgment delivered at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, suit no. NICN/LA/407/2013, delivered by Justice B.B. Kanyip on May 10, 2017, it is the registrar of trade unions that has the power to register a trade union and by extension to direct or recognize the affiliation of a body to a trade union subject to the overriding review powers of the court.
“Under what law did Lagos State government direct that the applicant be affiliated to the NURTW?” Daily Trust quoted Oyeniyi as asking.
