By Odita Sunday
For Comrade Amaka Ogwu and other workers of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Friday’s protest was about more than regulations and government paperwork. They said it was about the future of their jobs, the survival of Nigeria’s free trade zone scheme and the mandate of the agency they work for.
Ogwu, Chairperson of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), NEPZA Chapter, led workers in protesting what they described as an attempt by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, to alter the regulations and operational guidelines governing the country’s free trade zones without adequate input from NEPZA.
In an interview with journalists, Ogwu said the workers were not opposed to reforms but wanted any review of the rules to follow due process and involve those directly responsible for administering the free zone scheme.
“NEPZA is an agency established by law. It is mandated to license, monitor and regulate free zones in Nigeria. We are here because we believe that mandate is being trampled upon,” she said.
According to Ogwu, the controversy centres on a 28-page draft containing proposed amendments to the regulations and guidelines governing free zone operations.
She alleged that a committee set up by the ministry worked on the document for about six months, but that NEPZA’s participation and input were not adequately reflected in the process.
Ogwu said the workers became aware of the document after it had allegedly been forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Justice for consideration.
She claimed that the document was subsequently returned to NEPZA after concerns arose over the process through which changes to the regulatory framework were being proposed.
What particularly angered the workers, she said, was the decision to give NEPZA officials only two days to participate in what the ministry described as a consolidation exercise.
“They are not asking for NEPZA’s opinion. They are printing the regulation and asking NEPZA staff to come and consolidate. What they want is for them to append their signatures,” Ogwu alleged.
For the workers, the issue goes beyond who prepares a document.
They fear that changes to the incentives attached to free zone operations could make Nigeria’s free zones less attractive to investors and eventually affect businesses and jobs.
Ogwu drew comparisons with countries that have used free zones as instruments for industrialisation, investment and economic diversification.
“China is what it is today because of free zones. Dubai is what it is today because of free zones. Why will Nigerian free zones suffer?” she asked.
She warned that if investors no longer considered the incentives available in Nigeria’s free zones attractive, some enterprises could reconsider their operations.
Her concern, she said, was not merely about government revenue or institutional authority, but about ordinary workers whose livelihoods depend on the continued success of the scheme.
“If these enterprises go, where will we work? Our children’s school fees, where will we get it?” she asked.
The union is therefore demanding that the ministry return to the drawing board and broaden the review process.
Ogwu wants NEPZA management, the workers’ union and other stakeholders operating within the free zone ecosystem to be fully represented in any committee reviewing the regulations.
She also linked the present dispute to what she described as earlier attempts to reform or restructure NEPZA, saying the workers remained concerned about proposals that could weaken the authority or relevance of the agency.
The union chairperson insisted that the workers would continue to pursue the matter through lawful and peaceful means, including taking their concerns to the Presidency if necessary.
“We will not stop. If going to the Presidency is what it will take, we are ready. We must protect our mandate,” she said.
At the heart of the protest is a simple question for the workers: if Nigeria established free zones to attract investment, create employment and diversify the economy, what happens when the incentives and regulations that businesses rely on are changed?
For Ogwu and the NEPZA workers, that question is too important to be settled in a matter of days.
They are asking for a wider consultation, a transparent review and, above all, a process in which NEPZA and other stakeholders have a meaningful voice in determining the future of Nigeria’s free zone scheme.
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