Worried by the economic plight of retired dockworkers in Nigeria, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, has encouraged employers of dockworkers to provide pension schemes for their workers.
The NIMASA Director General made this appeal during the maiden celebration of the nation’s dockworkers at the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) Sports Centre, Surulere, Lagos, on Thursday.
His words: “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 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.”
The NIMASA boss stated that the event is a move by the agency to institutionalize 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.
He equally seized the occasion to express 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 stevedoring activities in the assigned operational areas.
“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,” the NIMASA boss said.
Also speaking, the President General of Maritime Worker’s Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju celebrated two esteem personalities whose contributions have had immense and profound impact on the dock industry: 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 Managing Director of NPA, the port reform process was initiated.
Adeyanju, who is also the Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), thanked the NIMASA management for organizing the event to celebrate Nigerian dockworkers in recognition of the important role played by them.
In attendance at the event were 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 (NASA).
Internationally, July 7th is marked as ‘The Global Day of Action’ and is organized by the International Dockworkers’ Council (IDC) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). It aims to raise awareness of port working conditions and emphasize the importance of collective bargaining rights.
