Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has said its plans to go on strike against the activities of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country is still on, this is even as the union confirmed that some of the IOCs have started yielding to their demands.
The President General of the union, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, in a chat with our correspondent confirmed that the MWUN plans to go on strike over the refusal of some IOCs to allow stevedores to work on board their platforms, are still on.
Even though he noted that some of the IOCs have started complying, he disclosed that some of them are still adamant. He however said the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) has called for another meeting between the union and the stakeholders in resolving the issues.
“The IOCs, yes we have issued an ultimatum and I think the last time the NPA came in through the office of the Managing Director, and we equally signed a communiqué with the IOCs, stating that they are going to give us those that have complied”, he said.
He added that, “as I am talking to you, some of the IOCs have started engaging the stevedoring contractors into their terminals, but the level of compliance is what we don’t know now and I think NPA is trying to call a meeting between the union and the stakeholders, so that we can know those that are complying and those that are still adamant”.
Recall that the national president of the National Association of Stevedoring Operators (NASO) Mr. Bolaji Sunmola recently said the country is losing billions of Naira, owing to the refusal of the IOCs to allow stevedoring agents of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to work on their platforms.
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He said despite the government’s directive to the IOCs to comply, many of them have refused. He had also described many of the Managing Directors of the IOCs as ‘puppets’ who can’t implement the directive of the Federal Government unless they report back to their home countries.
Sunmola had alleged that the IOCs have refused to allow stevedores onboard their platforms because the IOCs are hiding the actual volume of crude oil being lifted daily. He alleged that payments that would have been for indigenous dockworkers are stolen by the IOCs.
He said: “They (IOCs) don’t want us to have the true number of crude oil they are lifting and that is why they have not been engaging us. If you accumulate all these, it runs into billions of Naira.
“Payment to dockworkers is stolen, taxes are stolen, Federal Inland Revenue Service is losing money, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is losing money. They don’t want us to have the true number of crude oil they are lifting and that is why they have not been engaging us. If you accumulate all these, it runs into billions of naira”, he had lamented.
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