Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh has called on the relevant employers of labour to provide pension schemes for dockworker after retiring from their employ.
Jamoh made the appeal on Thursday, on account of the economic plight of dockworkers, saying only such gestures could take the affected ex-dockworkers out of abject poverty that often lead to their early mortality.
During the maiden celebration of the nation’s dockworkers at the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) Sports Centre, Surulere, Lagos, the NIMASA helmsman said: “As we celebrate today, it is important to put in perspective the plight of the dockworkers who spent the greater part of their active years in the dock, with little or nothing to show for it at the end of their working years.
“The point here is that as employers of labour, you should endeavour to put in place a contributory pension scheme for the dockworkers and ensure prompt remittance of both Employers’ and Employees’ contributions at the end of the month”.
He said the event was deliberately put together by the agency to institutionalise the celebration of the ‘Day of the Dockworker’ in Nigeria annually, even as he stressed the need for operators and dockworkers’ employers to ensure adequate remuneration for enhanced productivity at ports, jetties and terminals.
Jamoh, however, reassured that NIMASA is committed to developing an indigenous maritime capacity through the training and re-training of the dock labour force, to make them more vibrant and amenable to current trends in the shipping industry.
The NIMASA boss expressed the need for the operators of private jetties and oil and gas terminals to grant operational access to the Stevedoring contractors appointed by the Minister of Transport, to enable them carry out their operational activities as assigned to them.
“We are confident that this celebration would instill and institutionalize a sense of inclusion, value and dignity amongst dockworkers and further boost their contributions to the sector”, he said.
The President General of Maritime Worker’s Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju used the occasion to celebrate two personalities whose contributions have had immense and profound impact on the dock industry. They are Alhaji Ahmed Tijani Ramallan, who initiated regulation and registration of dock workers; and Chief Adebayo Sarumi, christened ‘Father of Dock Workers’ in whose tenure as NPA Managing Director, the port reform process was initiated.
Adeyanju, who is also the Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress, thanked the NIMASA management for organizing the event to celebrate Nigerian dockworkers in recognition of the important role played by them.
Dignitaries at the event included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity; Nigerian Ports Authority; Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and the National Association of Stevedoring Operators.
7th July is marked as ‘The Global Day of Action’ and is organised by the International Dockworkers’ Council, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. It aims to raise awareness of port working conditions and emphasize the importance of collective bargaining rights.
