By Victor AhiumaYoung
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has called on the federal government to find lasting solutions to the Apapa-Oshodi gridlock and port access roads nightmare.
President-General of MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, who spoke at the maiden edition of the “Day of the Dockworkers” Lagos, also restated the Union’s call on the government to resuscitate the pool system of tally clerks and onboard gangway security men.
The theme of the event was “Healthy Dockworker, Better Productivity”.
According to Adeyanju, “It is instructive to note that the environment we operate in has posed dangers to our lives.
“For instance, the quay aprons at Apapa port complex are dilapidated and Tin Can Island Ports Complex has collapsed due to long use, while Port Harcourt port is aged and decrepit.
“On the port access road, the gridlock has affected various aspects of the maritime industry’s activities with wide-ranging negative impacts on both vehicular, cargo and human movement within and outside the ports.
“We call on the government to find lasting solutions to the gridlock menace. Also, we wish to call on the relevant authorities to expedite action in rehabilitating and finding lasting solutions to the bad state of port access roads in all port formations nationwide.
“Special note should be taken of Onne Port access road, which is in a state of decay.
“On the other side, we wish to remind the federal government of the need to resuscitate the pool system of tally clerks and onboard gangway security men because of the importance to port operations, security and overall economic growth and safety of the country.”
Adeyanju thanked the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, management for organizing the event to celebrate Nigerian dockworkers in recognition of their importance in port operations.
Delivering his welcome address at the event, the NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, charged employers of labour to ensure all dockworkers were enrolled into the contributory pension scheme, CPS, while also emphasizing the need for operators of Oil and Gas Terminals to allow only approved stevedores aboard their installations, to ensure compliance with relevant international guidelines and conventions.
According to Dr Jamoh, “As we celebrate today, it is important to put in perspective the plight of dockworkers who spend the greater part of their working life at the ports, with little or nothing to show for it.
“As employers of labour, you must endeavour to put in place a CPS for dockworkers and ensure prompt remittances of both employers and employees contributions at the end of each month.”
On compliance with stevedore inspections, he said, “This occasion presents me with an opportunity to express the need for operators in the private jetties and Oil & Gas Terminals to grant operational access to the Stevedoring Contractors appointed by the Minister of Transport, to carry out stevedoring activities in assigned operational areas.”
Pioneer Board Chairman of NIMASA, Dr Tijjani Ramalan, commended the agency under Dr Jamoh saying NIMASA had successfully implemented its mandate as per the NIMSA Act in the protection of the rights and welfare of dockworkers as guaranteed in the International Labour Organisation, ILO, Decent Work Agenda.
Ramalan traced the development of the Nigerian dockworkers before his appointment as Executive Chairman of the Joint Dock Labour Industrial Council, JODLIC, in 1999, and later Executive Chairman of Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council, JOMALIC, to regulate the activities of Dockworkers and Seaferers.
The agency was later transmuted into the present day NIMASA.
According to him, the Nigerian docklabour today has been greatly transformed and sanitized, compared to the previous years.
“The Dynamic Agency’s Director General, Dr Bashir Jamoh and his able Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, and Chairman of NJIC Mr. Victor Ochei, needs to be appreciated for the revised minimum wage and improved living standard for dockworkers through the Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA, initiative endorsed by NIMASA and NJIC.
“Nigerian Dockworkers are integral to efficient and effective stevedoring operations and the NJIC must remain resolute in ensuring harmonious working relationships through the principle of tripartism and the execution of Collective Bargaining Agreements on minimum standards for the dock labour industry,” he said
The ex-NIMASA board chairman also commended the focused and responsible leadership of MWUN, saying “I appreciate our President-General of the MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, and repositioning of the MWUN and for midwifing the CBA, as it has ensured industrial harmony and peace in the maritime industry and i hope the NJIC would soon agree on new wages for dockworkers.”
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