R-L: DG NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR; Port Manager, Apapa Port, Charles Okaga; President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju; and Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services NIMASA, Engr. Victor Ochei during the 2023 Day of the Dockworker Celebration in Lagos

As part of ongoing efforts to ensure industrial peace and harmony in Nigeria’s Maritime industry, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has hosted the maiden edition of the ‘Day of the Dockworker’ in Lagos.

With the theme “Healthy Dockworker, Better Productivity”, it was an opportunity for stakeholders gathered to  appreciate the efforts of Nigerian dockworkers at the center of the nation’s import-dependent economy and to focus on ways of improving their health and general well – being.

Speaking at the event, Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, charged employers of labor to ensure that dockworkers are enrolled on contributory pension schemes, while also emphasizing the need for operators of Oil and Gas Terminals to allow only approved stevedores aboard their installations, to ensure compliance with relevant international guidelines and conventions.

“As we celebrate dock workers today, it is important to put in perspective the plight of dockworkers who spend the greater part of their working life at the ports, with little or nothing to show for it. As employers of labour, you must endeavour to put in place a Contributory Pension Scheme for dockworkers and ensure prompt remittances of both Employers and Employees contributions at the end of each month”.

Speaking on compliance with stevedore inspections, he stated, “This occasion presents me with an opportunity to express the need for operators in the private jetties and Oil and Gas Terminals to grant operational access to the Stevedoring Contractors appointed by the Honorable Minister of Transport, to carry out stevedoring activities in assigned operational areas”.

President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju,   thanked the NIMASA Management for organizing the event to celebrate Nigerian dockworkers in recognition of the important role they play.

In attendance at the event were representatives from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity; Nigerian Ports Authority; Seaport Terminal Operators Association and the National Association of Stevedoring Operators (NASA).

It is to be noted that 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). The event aims to raise awareness of port working conditions and emphasize the importance of collective bargaining rights.