Chief Michael Orobosa Ubogu is Chief Executive Officer, Micura Services Limited; a stevedoring firm in the Nigerian maritime industry. In this interview with Roland Ekama, he shed light on various issues surrounding dockworkers, stevedoring companies and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) .Chief Ubogu who also doubles as the National Vice President, National Association of Stevedoring Companies (NASC), also disclosed how stevedoring companies spend fortunes to kit their workers at the terminals.
How did you start your career as a stevedoring expert?
I worked with the Dangote Group for nine years and four months before I left that project for what we now called Micura Services Limited with branches spread across the country today. I left Dangote as production manager.
Kindly give us a general overview of what Micura Service Limited is into?
Micura Services Limited is a service oriented company conceived in 2007 and when we started initially we were just into stevedoring; today we have grown , we operate in about seven terminals as at today ,employing close to 10,000 direct and indirect workers , our presence is not only in Lagos, we are in Calabar and Port Harcourt as well. We have also moved our business out of the ports and right now we are into outsourcing because most of the blue chip companies like Bua, Dangote and Crown Flour Mills are giving us some outsourcing jobs because of the calibre of administrative people and integrity we have as regards the kind of services we render. Again, one thing you should understand about business is that it is not all about one person, rather is a group of colleagues with different responsibilities, though the overall responsibilities are under my purview.
What is your take on the recent move by NPA as regards the engagement of tally clerks and on- security men?
There is no way NPA can come up with that directive; rather what NPA should do is to shift the payment in terms of services to the jetties. The cargo surveyors and the on board security or tally clerks are the bone of contention, the concessioned terminals for instance appoint stevedoring companies and they pay stevedoring charges ,therefore NPA cannot at anytime regulate them to say that you cannot employ stevedores; then the question is who does the work of a dockworker in the process. The contentious issue between NPA and stevedoring companies has been like a sore that refuse to heal and that was why there was a stakeholders’ meeting recently to ponder on the way forward, because if I should render a service to you for instance ,you must pay me for that service , therefore there is a whole lot of dotted lines in terms of this on board security and tally clerks, because it is NPA's idea as regards cargoes that are coming into the country. NPA wanted a situation whereby they will know the number of tonnages coming into the country and some of those vessels are not operating under NPA because the ports have been concessioned. Now when a port is concessioned and I have my own cargo surveyors and you are saying NPA is sending on board security and tally clerk to come and tally what is on the vessel, then the big question is who pays? Because I already have my own commitment to the cargo surveyors; so why should I pay for cargo surveyor and at the same time pay for a job that the service is not directly for me rather for NPA? You don't expect me to pay for service meant for NPA and that is the bone of contention. The terminal operators are saying that they are not against NPA as landlord of the ports because they have the right to do anything they want but the deal is- we will not restrict them from doing their jobs but any job they do please pay the bills but NPA is trying to shift the bills to the terminal and it doesn't work as such. You don't render a service and expect someone else to pay for it. When I render a service to you, I will invoice you directly then you should pay and I think that is where the issue is at the moment. There is no way NPA or the concessionaires can do without the stevedoring firms.
Do you support the replacement of tally clerks and on board security with cargo surveyor?
NPA is the landlord has the right to say that there are some anomalies in some area of their operation and they need to do some changes because change is the only thing constant in life but again they need to have laid down procedures for such. If for instance they say they don't want the services of on board security men and tally clerks, then they should also activate the clause establishing them, then pay them because the cargo surveyors are illegal as far as the maritime sector is concerned; what the law recognised is on board security and tally clerk. It is part of the laws that established even NPA and if you decide that you need some changes nobody will go against you for that but there is need to follow laid down procedures. It also means that you have to pay them, severe them, and all those cash runs into billions of naira.
The issue of proper kits for dockworkers is a major problem, what do you think is responsible for this?
Let me use myself as a case study; most times we spend 20% to 25%of our income trying to kit the workers, but unfortunately, buying the kits is one thing and enforcement of the use of the kits is another. What I am doing is that I bring in some H.S.E professionals and you must follow the laid down procedure of your PPE. Most stevedores also buy the PPE because the dockworkers are very funny with one excuse or the other. Sometimes they will tell you that the weather is too hot, whereas there is what we call internationally acceptable standard which means whatever that is obtainable in Lagos or Calabar can also be obtainable in Cotonou as well, so you must set a standard that is accepted and approved; therefore in the area of enforcement we have been able to get H.S.E personnel to get it right by ensuring that the workers are properly kitted.
Some dockworkers have lamented about the poor working environment of some terminals in Lagos seaports, what is your reaction to that?
I won't subscribe to that, if they say its unsafe to be honest with you gypsum for instance is not a chemical, but a bye product for the manufacturing of cement and when such product is discharged from the vessel you discover that the workers are not totally there on the spot, except those on board the ship, crane operators and lorry drivers, the union has also negotiated on their behalf for payment of hazard allowances and most times when they do things like that which are deemed hazardous, they give them allowances, including provision for milk and soap; apart from their allowance. However, the terminal operators are living up to their responsibilities in the area of provisions for the workers under such conditions and on top of that there is also financial inducement.
What is your take on the introduction of CTN?
It has been in existence before, but really the CTN does not affect my business in anyway and I can only react to something that is beneficial to my business but it is left for people bringing in cargoes to decide on CTN, but don't also forget that in any service there is a price to pay.
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