President of Senior Staff Association, Nigerian Shippers Council; Comrade Adigwe Muktar in this chat with Shipping Position Daily correspondent ;Roland Ekama, talked about the cordial relationship between management of the Council and the union. Adigwe also talked about the Shippers Council and its new role as Economic Regulator as well as the clamour to transmute to National Transport Commission.
What plans do you have as the president of SSACTAC, Nigerian Shippers' Council?
We as a union, our most important programme is to see to the welfare of the workforce of the Nigerian Shippers' Council. In doing this, we try to negotiate with management and we are happy to say that our management is alive to its responsibility in providing a conducive working environment which is very paramount in every sector. If you want me to give you my best, you must provide the best of facilities to work with and we always emphasise to our members that we as an association, we don't only ask, but also think of what we can do for the organisation because if the organisation grows better, the better it is for all staff of the organisation as well. So, our main focus is to enjoin our members to put in their best in doing their jobs and also encourage them by negotiating with the management to provide a conducive working environment, tools and good take-home packages to make everybody happy, because when people are happy, they tend to put in their bests, that is our focus for now.
Are you saying the management is doing enough and if so, why is need for the union?
One thing you should understand is that having an association is just for you to come together for the general interest of the people. It is not everything about the problems of the staff that the management will know, I just said that they were alive to their responsibilities because one of the main things that the management should provide is a conducive working environment and as you step into Shippers' Council, you can attest to it that we have a very conducive working environment and the tools to work with. It does not mean that the management has fulfilled all the needs of the workers and to ask for the ones that have not been provided that is why there is need for an association. Not that the management has done 100 per cent of what the workers want, but to a large extent, our management has been alive to its responsibilities, especially in providing good environment, good tools for the workers to excel.
Your branch of SSACTAC has been largely unknown compared to your counterparts in NPA and other places. Why is your branch so quiet?
Let me take you down memory lane, Nigerian Shippers' Council Senior Staff Association was one of the founding fathers of SSACTAC. But because of some lingering issues now in the Court, the nomenclature has changed and it is SSACGOG now or something. We were in SSACTAC but due to some internal problems, Shippers' Council had to pull out of SSACTAC. Our branch had a problem with the national body and because we were unable to reconcile among ourselves, Shippers' Council moved out and we were affiliated to another labour movement. But when I came into power, I and my executives did some analysis and we discovered that the main place Nigerian Shippers' Council should be is SSACTAC and so, we started negotiation and by the grace of God, by June last year, SSACTAC Shippers' Council was re-admitted into SSACTAC fold. So, why you have not been hearing of us is because we have been out of SSACTAC for a while but now, we are back.
Shippers, clearing agents and port users have accused Shippers' Council at different fora over the performance of its role as the economic regulator of the port. What is your view about that?
I don't agree that Shippers' Council is not doing its part well in the maritime sector. Protecting the interest of the shippers is one of our functions but recently, Shippers' Council has gone beyond that. It has been given a mandate temporarily to regulate the port economy in Nigeria and in doing that, it is not only the shippers that the Council is interested in anymore, the Council is interested in anyone that does business at the port – be it the terminal operators, be it the shippers, be it the ship owners and so on. So, Council has now diversified, we are not really focusing on the interest of the shippers alone, but anyone that has business in the port and before then, Council had been doing a lot for shippers, but one problem we have in this country is that we like short cuts. In fact, Shippers' Council has been giving enlightenment and we have been telling importers and exporters the procedure of doing things. Some of them will not even come to the Council, they want to do it on their own and when things happen, they will say Council is not doing enough. In terms of enlightenment, defence and giving ideas, the management of the Council has been doing a lot, but now that we have been upgraded, and given additional responsibilities, the interest on the shipper which was our sole aim before might not be the same again because if a shipper does something wrong now against a terminal operator, the Council will come to the defence of the terminal operator and vice versa.
At the recent seminar for judges, some stakeholders clamoured that the Council should be transmuted to National Transport Commission. What is your take on that?
I think it is a very good call, it is in order and very proper and I think the Council has what it takes to pilot the role of Transport Commission because as it is now, the whole country doesn't have any regulator on transport that is why everyone is doing what he or she likes in the transport industry. We have regulator in the aviation sector which is the NCC and other sectors of the economy. The Council has the capacity if you look at the Council; we have men and women that are well rounded in transportation business who are capable to take charge of the transport regulation. It is a good thing if it is given to Nigerian Shippers' Council.
Do you think the Council has the capacity in terms of staff strength?
As it is presently constituted, the Council might not have enough human resources, but it has the capacity to midwife it and subsequently, may be there could be addition of more staff but as it stands now, the Council has all the intellectuals and every necessary tool to be able to midwife the National Transport Commission.
Many people have described the CEO of the Council as a gentle man but you as a comrade, what is your relationship with him?
The CEO is a gentle man to the core, who knows his onions just like you rightly said and we are having it a lot better with him because he is also a labour-oriented person and he tries to carry everybody along; that is why you see that the Council is very peaceful. You will hardly hear of any industrial dispute in the Shippers' Council because the Chief Executive is a union person, he engages us. So, most of our problems are always settled. As a labour leader here, quite well we have been having a good and robust relationship with the management of the Council and the CEO has been there and just like you said, doing what he is supposed to do, it is just that you cannot have everything together at once but so far, so good, I think he is doing well for the staff and we think he can still do more. He will do more because we are always engaging him.
Which area do you still expect the management to do more for your members?
As a leader, what I try to impart on my members here is that we should not always be thinking of what the organisation can give to us at all times, but what we can give to the organisation as well. Even though the Council is doing well, most of the problems we have here as it is everywhere is the issue of promotion which is a big problem here, because it is not done as at when due and some people have to be stagnated for a number of years before they get their promotion. That is the area we also engage the management to look at and see how we can be able to correct the imbalances. Talking about welfare as well, we as the union, we are not leaving everything to the management alone. On our own, we try to give the little we can to our members when we have enough resources and also we extend it out to the general public. Staff here last year contributed money individually and bought items and took them to IDP camp in Durumi, Abuja. So, it is part of us giving and not just receiving.
What do you think is responsible for the loopholes in the promotion exercise and what are you doing to correct the imbalances you mentioned?
The problem is a lingering one, it is something that has been there before this Chief Executive Officer came on board and primarily, I wouldn't really know what started it but along the line, we discovered that people were not promoted as at when due. You know when somebody is due for promotion this year, and is not promoted, next year, other people will be due along and if they are not promoted, the other year will come and it will keep piling up. If it was done the way it should be done, then we would not have this kind of problems but like I told you, we have engaged the present Chief Executive on it and since he came, I think he has done promotion twice trying to clear up the backlog and it is a good thing and if he continues like that, in the next two or three years, we should be able to get on track.
Discussion about this post