MAJAN Roundtable: MWUN President Tasks in-coming Government on more Ports and Access Road Development
... Debunks Creation of Maritime Ministry idea
ZAINAB JUNAID
In a bid to achieve greater productivity in the industry and have more suitable access roads at Ports' Corridors, the President of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria ( MWUN), Prince Adewale Adeyanju has urged the in-coming administration to make development of more Ports and maintenance of its corridors across the country a paramount project that must be achieved in his tenure.
MWUN President made this call while fielding questions with journalists at a roundtable discussion organised by Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN) at the association's secretariat, Apapa, Lagos.
Comrade Adeyanju expressed ill feelings towards the dilapidated state of some Ports and thier access roads across the country and reiterated the need for the in-coming government to look into resolving the appaling issues.
According to him, "The in-coming government should give attention to Warri, Calabar and other Ports, instead of focusing only on Lagos ports, when other Ports can also be upgraded to boost growth in the industry. Government need to put the Ports’ access roads in good shape as seen in other countries. For instance, the access road to TinCan Island Port has been taken over by artisans, food vendors are now cooking on the roads, with other commercial activities taking place there. If you go to TinCan Port in the evening, you will even see pupils in their uniforms playing on the major road. This is not the only place. The road leading to Onne Port is nothing to reckon with. We are hopeful that the new administration will address these salient issues.”
On matters relating to creation of Maritime Ministry, Prince Adeyanju who is also the National Vice President of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) debunked the idea of creating a ministry but emphasized more on how management inefficiency has become woe of maritime sector and the need to address the issue urgently.
"It is not the creation of a Maritime Ministry that is important for the sector to do. What is important is management efficiency. We must ensure that the right people are put in the right positions. Also, developments of Ports must be done across the country, not just developing Lagos Port alone, but Warri and Onne Ports too should also be considered. We forget about Ports in other parts of the country. This is also crucial, as it will ease the stress and pressure on the Lagos Port," he said.
He however appraised the outstanding performance of the Director General of Nigeria Maritime Adminstration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Bashir Jamoh, whom he sees as maritime professional that rose from grassroot to the peak level having understood the industry well and was able to give it what it deserved.
“Dr.Jamoh has performed creditably well. He has brought so many innovations and has greatly improved the Maritime industry, government should endeavour to make sure subsequent appointment into maritime agencies is done from the industry.Industry professionals should be appointed and not just anyone.” he said.
Casualization of Dockworkers
While speaking on casualization of dockworkers, Comrade Adewale expressed satisfaction over the development so far despite not achieving all goals yet but confirmed that there has been an upward review of dockworkers salaries by Nigeria Port Authority (NPA).
To him, "the dockworkers were treated like orphans and without any hope. But today the Maritime Workers Union, under his leadership, has completely changed the narrative. In any place in the world, casuals have no home, and this is the case we have been making over the years. Before now there was nothing like pension or gratuity,but with new trends in the ports now, which is favourable to the dockworkers, we can see peace in the ports. Because we have collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with their employers, midwife's by Nigerian Ports Authority NPA and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, who are the regulating agencies monitoring the Dockworkers activities in the ports
"In other to address the issue of casuals, the Union reached agreement with relevant operators and agreed on three modes of operations that takes care of all categories of dockworkers.
"The three modes of operations that have taken care of this virus called casuals are permanent employment within the rank and file of the Dockworkers.There is what we call ,payment by tonnage .This means that the tonnage the vessel brought would be shared amongst all the people that worked on board that vessel. And that depends on the volume .The Union equally fights for their terminal benefits ,and their pension.So all the dockworkers in the ports today are pensionable and they are entitled to their terminal benefits: pension and gratuity. Infact
International Oil Companies
On the issue of the International Oil Companies ( IOCs),The MWUN President noted that there has been remarkable improvement in their compliance level, stressing that the IoCs have penchant for disregarding and undermining government directives.He vowed that the Union will longer condole the recalcitrant attitude of the IOCs.
His words, "It is unfortunate that the IOCs who are here to invest in our resources are not obeying laws and directives given by government. Otherwise how can seven days directive by government to the IOCs for compliance take many years to be effected? We are not going to take that anymore. The disregard for government directives must stop," he said.
However, the roundtable discussion took another phase with the presentation of prestigious Maritime Labour Icon Award by MAJAN President, Mr Ray Ugochukwu, to Prince Adewale Adeyanju.
The award according to Mr Ray Ugochukwu was for his leadership role as President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria and he described Comrade Adeyanju as a reputable Maritime Labour icon, who has through hard work and doggedness, successfully liberated Maritime workers from oppression by their employers.
