The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called on the Federal Government to compel International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country to obey the Marine Notice 106 of 2014 and allow stevedoring companies deploy dockworkers into their platforms to avoid industrial unrest.
The so-called Marine Notice 106 stipulates that “all operators of ports, jetties, onshore or offshore, oil and gas or bonded terminals, inland container depots, offdock terminals, dry ports and platforms, and other work locations” are to grant duly appointed stevedoring companies access to their premises to render stevedoring services.
Speaking at the union’s National Executive Council meeting in Lagos, its President-General, Com. Adeyanju Adewale, said, “It is regretted that the IOCs have refused to comply with said government Marine Notice 106 since 2014 when it was issued.
“The IOCs have persistently disobeyed our extant stevedoring regulations that stipulate that they employ the services of stevedoring companies licensed by NPA to work in their oil and gas platforms. This is in spite of our numerous engagements to get them to conform to our regulating labour laws and standard.
Consequently, we are compelled to use this occasion to call on the government to compel these IOCs to respect our sovereign laws in accordance with global standards in order to prevent disruptions in service delivery in these formations whether offshore or onshore.
“We have been on this issue for more than four years. We are aware that some of the IOCs have complied while others have not. We cannot continue like this. We are being pushed to the wall. It is important we are not compelled to begin the New Year with industrial unrest.
“Arising from the insecurity in our nation’s seaport concerning unauthorised persons accessing the vessels that berth in our nation’s seaport (stowaways), illicit cargo, etc coming into our seaport in the absence of tally clerks and onboard ship gangway men that are statutorily assigned to man security on board vessels, we humbly wish to call for the resuscitation of the pool system in all ports to checkmate influx of illegal persons into the port and prevent under-declaration of tonnage/cargo that comes into our ports.”
Speaking at the event, Director-General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, appealed to the leadership of the union to give the government more time to address the issue.
“There is a law or rule; you must obey it, and you must obey the standard. We will meet including the IOCs and the union to resolve the issue in accordance with the law to move the sector forward,” Jamoh said.
The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, who was represented by General Manager, Human Resources, Ahmad Umar, said the authority has obtained approval to recruit more employees to address the lapses on shortage of workers.
According to him, the NPA currently has an inverted pyramid structure with more senior officers occupying larger number, than the junior workforce.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is concerned about the dwindling numbers in terms of staffing, the Managing Director is interested in this particular issue, and he has obtained an approval to employ more of staff than officers.
“This is to increase the numbers, this is to strengthen your union and address most of the issues you have raised here, so be rest assured that NPA is addressing the issue.
“The NPA as it is today has an inverted pyramid structure, there are a lot of officers more than the staff, the issue is going to be addressed and your numbers is going to be increased,” he said.
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