The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has kicked against the online biometric registration of dockworkers and seafarers ,saying this would lead to influx of those who had been disengaged to regain access into port terminal operations.
President General MWUN,Comrade Adewale Adeyanju in a chat with newsmen weekend, reiterated the union’s commitment towards ensuring efficient registration of bonifade and genuine workers in port operations urging the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to halt the online registration process and explore other avenue to complete the verification.
Adeyanju,while commending NIMASA for the initiative , affirmed that the online biometric registration would lead to insecurity at the ports urging NIMASA to embark on physical verification exercise against the online version.
He said “Online registration will cause a lot of problem for us. The reason is this, some of them that have left the industry for years will go and register again because they will be claiming to be what they are not .
“For the sake of insecurity we will appeal to NIMASA to carry out physical verification exercise so that the process can be authentic and genuine.”
According to him, the online registration is open to everybody and will not be easy to control or manage by the apex maritime regulatory agency.
He said the process of physical verification exercise should be carried out on workers at their respective terminals.
The President General also stated that the physical verification exercise can also go through the stevedoring companies instead of the online registration, which he described as all comers affair.
By Roland Ekama
