MWUN Reports IOCs , Dearth Of NPA, NIMASA Junior Cadres, Revamping Of NNSL, Others To Minister

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has enumerated the challenges confronting labour employees in the industry to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, reiterating the issue of International Oil Company (IoCs) continuous refusal to obey Government Marine Notice 106 of 2014 and Extant Stevedoring Regulations.

President General of MWUN in a statement on Wednesday , e-signed by Comrade John Kennedy Ikemefuna,Head of Media, maintained that the law stipulates that government approved and NIMASA registered stevedores/dockworkers shall be allowed by the IoC’s to the operational areas allocated them by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Adeyanju who also doubles as the 1st Deputy President, Nigerian Labour Congress, said it is regretted that the multinational oil companies (IoC’s) operating in Nigeria have continued to exhibit flagrant disrespect and disobedience to Government Marine Notices and Extant Stevedoring Regulations.

The President General also called for the engagement of on -board ship gangway men and tally clerks in port operations  adding that  the general public have been misinformed of the relevance of this specialised workers .

He  appealed for reinstatement of these categories of personnel and the pooling system, pointing out that it’s also imperative to know that the presence of these aforementioned personnel in berthed vessels in the ports, jetties, and territorial waters is to checkmate unauthorized persons with inordinate intentions either as pirates, stow away, hard drug peddlers,  or armed traffickers within the ports axis.

” It’s pertinent to see the presence, visibility of NPA and NIMASA officials in all the Jetties and Terminals across the nation seaports, but  suffice it to say that there’s no presence of the officials of Nigerian Ports Authority and NIMASA in most of the Jetties in the country; which makes it a reverse order.

‘Therefore, this situation has led to a huge revenue loss to the government, while also contributing to national security risk; hence, we appeal to the Honourable Minister to urgently direct the deployment of both NPA and NIMASA personnel to these Jetties and Terminals where their presence are not in place “, the PG added.

The NLC boss also explained to the Minister that the challenges confronting the Union cannot be concluded if the dilapidated port terminal of the quay apron are not mentioned noting that the chaotic state of the Calabar, Warri, Onne, Port Harcourt and Lagos had been in a deplorable state and have since remained a disaster waiting to happen.

Adeyanju also affirmed that the deplorable roads in  Onne and Port Harcourt should be seriously looked into as this very bad condition of the roads does not project the image of Nigeria in good light in the comity of maritime nations.

On the dearth of junior workers in maritime  government agencies, Adeyanju lamented that “On the employment of junior cadre employees in Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), NIWA & NIMASA. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria has noted with dismay for over two decades that the NPA, NIMASA and NIWA have not employed junior cadre employees but have consistently employed management personnel.

“We further observed too that these agencies have been carrying out what may be termed “coded employment”. The Union is also making a passionate appeal in view of the observations mentioned to the Minister to direct an “open” employment of junior cadre workers as this category of staff are fewer in the agencies as it stands today.

While making a strong case for the seafarers’, the union boss expressed concerns of delay on issuance of dockworkers and Seafarers identity documents (SID) calling on the Nigerian Maritime Administration And Safety Agency (NIMASA) to fast-track the issuance of the biometric identity cards to Union’s members.

On the revamping of national carrier for the country, Adeyanju noted that  “As a Union in the Maritime sector, it’s indeed a big blow to the industry and the country at large that hitherto, that Nigeria has no national carrier vessels.

“This is unfortunate as Nigeria with all her resources and acclaimed as the “Giant” of Africa has no national shipping line or an ocean-going vessel. In view of this and putting into cognisance the magnitude of Nigeria’s strength in Africa nay the world,  MWUN is appealing to the Minister to please use his patriotic embodiment to also initiate the move towards establishing a National Shipping Line to restore the status of the country and her past glory as this will create employment for our teeming jobless youth across the country.”