On this page about a month ago, we eulogized the immediate past President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju for leaving behind a legacy of transformation, stability, and remarkable achievements in the maritime sector.
Adeyanju, who served as the President-General of MWUN between March 2017and March 2025, is credited with re-shaping the union into a formidable force for workers’ rights and welfare.
We had recalled that, under his leadership, the MWUN witnessed unprecedented reforms that improved the working conditions of maritime workers, fostered industrial harmony, and strengthened the union’s engagement with key stakeholders in the industry.
Adeyanju’s eight-year tenure also saw a sustained push for improved welfare packages for workers, including salary reviews, enhanced insurance coverage, and better safety measures at ports and jetties. His proactive approach in engaging government agencies, maritime employers, and international labor organizations ensured that workers’ voices were heard in policy-making processes.
Beyond advocacy, he championed capacity-building programmes, equipping maritime workers with training opportunities to enhance their skills and productivity. His administration also played a crucial role in pushing for the implementation of policies that addressed casualization in the industry, ensuring that more workers were granted permanent employment status.
However, one of Comrade Adeyanju’s most significant contributions was the resolution of long-standing disputes between dockworkers, shipping companies, and terminal operators, which helped to minimize disruptions in port operations. Under his watch, the union was peaceful and rancor-free. Not even elections into branches and districts caused any wrangling.
There is no doubt that the MWUN has been transformed into a new brand, a brand that sprang up from the ashes of the old order where force and brute reigned, when the union was law unto itself and most parts of the Nigerian maritime industry.
For the once-dreaded and volatile union, the long journey to the present has been quite long, especially since it became the amalgamated union for junior workers in the nation’s maritime industry. It is to the credit of Adeyanju that the union has been peaceful has been very peaceful.
We are however worried about emerging internal wrangling. The discord snowballed into open confrontation recently, when aggrieved dockworkers took to the streets of Apapa, with different placards. They specifically raised alarm and alleged that the process leading to the emergence of the president of the union’s dockworkers branch is being manipulated.
Coming barely one month after the exit of former President-General; Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the signs are not quite good.
It is obvious that, the union, now under the leadership of Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, is facing growing internal discord over who emerges as presidents of its various branches, with the dockworkers’ branch becoming the epicenter of the unrest.
This is probably the first time in about 16 years that the union would be enmeshed in such a serious crisis over who becomes the next dockworkers’ branch president. This underscores how deep the rift runs within the rank and file of the union.
According to multiple sources, there was an understanding, brokered before Adeyanju’s departure; that the next president of the dockworkers’ branch should emerge from the Tin Can port, given that the incumbent president, Comrade Tajudeen Ohize, who is completing his second term, is from the ENL Terminal at Apapa port.
Regardless of who the parties to the brewing crisis are, and what their positions are, we are strongly of the opinion that the new President General; Comrade Francis Bunu should tow the pat of industrial harmony, especially within the union.
If there was indeed an agreement about rotation of leadership positions among the various sub-groups at the union’s branches, such should be respected.
We are however disturbed by the allegation that, a particular terminal operator is meddling in the process leading to the elections. While it is not unlikely that terminal operators could be interested in who leads the workers, it is extremely dangerous to be openly partisan; to the extent that dockworkers openly associate that terminal operator with a particular candidate. This is an open invitation for anarchy in the ports.
Part of the allegation is also that Apapa port has often produced the president of dockworkers branch. While democracy and unionism should be about who commands the highest number of support, it is also helpful to accommodate the minority. We think this is why rotation was introduced by the leaders of the union. In that wise, the agitation that, Apapa port has monopolized the presidency of dockworkers’ branch of the union deserves attention.
The Nigerian maritime industry enjoyed calmness in the last eight years of Comrade Adewale Adeyanju. Comrade Bunu should do all within his powers to ensure that the peace is not truncated as a result of intra-union crises
