Give us your background, education and how you came into this trade.
Give us your background, education and how you came into this trade.
My name is Comrade Owolabi Omotayo, I am the unit chairman of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, sea men and transport workers branch, I am a private boat operator at the Liverpool unit. I attended Cherubim and Seraphim primary school in Igbo Alejo village under the Ojo local government, after that, I proceeded to Dr. Lucas memorial high school in Kirikiri town, Lagos and that is where I finished my secondary education in 1987. When I finished this, due to financial constraints, I decided to set up my own business and I went into the maritime business as a boat operator, providing transportation and other marine logistics services to the shipping sector.
What is the relationship between your unit and the main MWUN body?
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria is a big body; a trade union organization that has been catering for the welfare of their unit and their members, our relationship is very cordial with the national body, many times they come to our aid to see how to help solve our problems and make sure that we are up to date with what is really happening and they have been solving our problems, even recently, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria organized a leadership seminar for the leaders in our branch which I attended, and that is a good encouragement from our parent body, the seminar was on conflict management and I think it is a good move by our president; Comrade Tony Nted, we are very proud of him as a leader and as our PG to have organized such a seminar to really update us on modern trade union activities.
How is the relationship between your unit here and the regulatory agencies, such as: NIWA, NIMASA and NPA, are you getting any supports?
The regulatory agencies like NIWA, NIMASA and of course LASWA have all been supportive and the relationship has been cordial, LASWA has been providing coverage and security with the state marine police to our operations on the waterways, they give us round-the-clock surveillance and other things, we really appreciate their efforts. I am talking about NIWA, LASWA, the Nigerian police force marine division, including NIMASA because they have been helping to remove the wrecks on the waterways, these wrecks has been dangerous to water transportation and other maneuvering on the water, so they have been very useful to our organization.
If NIMASA have been so supportive, there have been protests at their corporate headquarters by dockworkers?
If you look at it, the issue of Cabotage is a legislation which has not fully been implemented, the people feel that they are not being carried along, that is union members from other branches and units, and the only organization that can solve their problems is NIMASA, and instead of going violent I think it is right for well informed union members to go there and protest peacefully and show their grievance so that government can look into it. NIMASA has a lot to do, they should at least see to the problem of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria which comprises of dockworkers and others. The protest was necessitated by the accumulated complaints which NIMASA people are not trying to solve, and the best way is to go there and let the authority know that this is what is happening, and the only way to get to the government is through NIMASA which is in charge of the maritime in this country.
On the ratio of one to ten, how will you rate the support that NIMASA is giving boat operators?
Like I said, they have been coming to remove some wrecks that have been causing accidents thereby leading to loss of life and properties. NIMASA has been trying, but I can tell you categorically that NIMASA also has its own problems; mainly internal problems which have often led to the removal of directors general and inconsistencies of policies. We want consistencies and continuity, but I will say NIMASA has been helpful to us only that we still want them to do more, especially in terms of trying to make sure that we are able to get a one stop shop for the registration and surveillance of our boats and the issuances of our driving license, conduct of examination to boat operators is very important because the herculean task of getting all those things is still baffling ,we need a one stop shop whereby a boat operator can comply with the law, get his driving license ,get his boat survey without stress. So NIMASA should look into that because our members are complaining about the inability of getting all those documents and the procedures are somehow tasking to them, I am appealing to NIMASA to create a one stop shop for us to acquire these documents and certificates for our members so that they can safely comply with the law of the land; especially navigational law and laws to operate water transport business without violating the constitution
Some of your boys were arrested for perpetrating illegal activities, how did it go?
In my unit here, we do not encourage any act of illegality, even before you bring your boat and register, all the laws are going to be read to you, they include: pipeline vandalization, sea robbery, sea militancy, we are not part of all that and as far as I am concerned I will not encourage my members to get themselves involved in such activities .We don’t encourage that in this unit, this is a larger society. Let me say it here that if anybody is caught violating the law in terms of sea robbery, piracy and other vices, we are appealing to the government to take drastic action against such people or groups because we will not be a party to that and if any of our members in our unit or union is caught, we will not associate ourselves with that person the law must take its course against criminality .
What is your assessment of the level of security on our waterways?
Presently, the level of security in our waterways has improved tremendously due to the amnesty given by the government to the militants who felt aggrieved all these years as a result of exploration of oil in their communities and deprivation of other fundamental rights of the citizens of our country. Since the amnesty, I think the security has improved because many of the boys have been rehabilitated by the government and are trying to integrate into the society for more productive national development rather than going for militancy. So generally security on our waterways has improved but I will appeal to the government to really do more at least to increase vigilance on our waterways and also ensure surveillance and monitoring of all activities; on these creeks, there should be digital cameras and high powered camera to be installed so as to keep a tab on all the activities that are going on in the creeks.
Tell us more about ships that are attacked on our waterways?
Like I have said criminality is not what government can eradicate just like that, people are bound to commit crimes, but it is the duty of the government to apprehend them from the level of planning to the stage of execution of criminal activities .I agree with you that on sea robbery and attack on vessel, the Nigerian Navy should gear up and do more on their surveillances on the sea and internally on the waterways, the Nigerian Police and other relevant authority like the anti terrorist squad should also improve in their information gathering and surveillance duties.
Do people use water transport now more than before? What is the ratio?
Now in Lagos state, we have an amiable Governor in the person of Babatunde Raji Fashola, he has encouraged people to invest on water transportation properly, you can see people are now trying to use the waterways unlike before, although some are still skeptical. We are praying to have more enlightenment through the media houses that the waterways are now good. The government should also invest in water transportation more to cope with the real operators who know what it takes to run water transportation business. The governor of Lagos has tried in that aspect, but we need the enlightenment from the media houses to encourage people to pass through the waterways because the accident ratio is zero, unlike the road and the government has to clear wrecks from our waterways and provide financial wherewithal for water transporters to come up with the concept that they will use to run this transportation business nationwide not even Lagos state alone, Lagos is outstanding because our governor is a trail blazer.
Do your boys still go on night navigation?
The government has imposed a night curfew on the water transportation for security reasons and as you know, where there is no security, there is no business, there is no investment. The government has imposed curfew on the water due to militancy and other robbery activities on our waterways which is somehow good. You must know who is operating on the water at night, but now our people cannot operate at night, speed boats cannot operate at night and we have to comply with the government directives for security reasons, so there is no night navigation any more.
Since there is no night navigation, what about those that leave in the riverine area or work in the town, how do they cope?
The curfew actually affects the speed boats and this are the fast moving boat which the militant and the sea robbers use. In the riverine communities, we have what we called the wooden boats which are not fast moving; so this people with the concession from the naval authority especially in my jetty, they still give us time to operate till 9 o’clock in the night, although, the curfew start by 6 pm, my people are still allowed to work till 9 pm and about to 10 30 pm because the boats are not fast-moving and cannot be used for any criminal activities. These are the types that are used to ferry people in the riverine communities and since then nobody has been complaining. In that area we are very thankful to the naval authorities.
Has there been a reduction in the number of accidents on waterways due to wrecks, hyacinths removal?
Really they have been reduction in the number of accidents. It does not happen often again; especially if you follow the normal navigational rules use in boat operations and again you can see that this night curfew has really systematically helped because some these accidents happen in the night and it is due to this fast moving boats which sometimes would not be able to see the small fishing boats or at times they fly over them but since this curfew has been put in place, the rate of accidents has reduced dramatically. Most of the times, the problem of accident is caused by wreckage and refused dump in the waterway; the government should do something about it and educate people that the waterway is not refused dump, it kills ,it causes accident and economically it discourage people from investing in water transportation business because this refuse will clutch the propellers ,block water inlets and the cooling system of the engine whereby destroying the engine because by the time the engine is overheated due to blockage they breakdown and it is very expensive to maintain, this marine engine is not like land engine. These damages discourage people because when you spend money to repair all the time and you are not making much money, then you will be discouraged, so the government should try and educate the people in the cities not to dump refused on the waterways anymore to prevent accidents and make the waterway free so that investor can invest.
How many of these agencies come here to collect tariff?
When you talk of LASWA, that is the Lagos State Waterways Authority and NIWA, is the National Inland Water Authority; we have a specific amount to pay as license to operate on the water per annum and we have been going to their offices to pay the normal governmental levy so we don’t have any problem with them, we pay per annum and get licensed for our members.
Between LASWA and NIWA which is authorized to collect this levy because there is a conflict between the two bodies?
We are a union and it is not our duty to tell the government; federal or state what to do, what we try to do is to abide by the laws, but I think there is a lot of duplication of levies; NIWA is collecting waterways license, LASWA is collecting also. I think they should harmonize the mode of collections so that we can know who is entitled to collect this levy.
Tell me more about the riverine communities making use of your support service?
We have a lot of riverine community in Lagos state and as you can see Lagos state is an aquatic state and a lot riverine communities are making use of our services from Ojo to Epe, Liverpool to Coconut, Takwa Bay e.t.c.and other supportive services given to the shipping sector; like the sailors on board vessel both cargoes and tankers, we ferry their food stuff, we ferry their spare parts, lube oils which they use, so we provide support services to the maritime sector.
How many riverine communities do we have around here?
We have about 18 communities
Tell us about the racket of ferrying prostitutes through the use of boats?
Base on the security arrangement on ground now, before you get into the sea, you will meet a lot of security checkpoint at Atlas Cove, you will meet the Nigerian Navy Intelligent, the Immigration the Nigerian Police anti terrorist squad and also the NDLEA. And you know they will not allow that because it is against the law to ferry prostitutes to the sea. These are part of the things that we tell our members and personally I don’t do that and my members don’t do that also, because we have been well educated on that. I don’t think you can break these checkpoints at Atlas Cove and move into the high seas, I don’t think they will allow that and I don’t think they have been allowing such acts to take place. As at now, such things do not happen, our boats are not being used to ferry prostitutes to the sea
How can you curtail the habit of drinking and driving?
These are parts of what we educate our members about all the time, you cannot drink and drive and you cannot be driving and drinking. We caution them on that area always and that is why there is not much accident on our waterways; we don’t drink and drive, our members cannot come into this mini- market to drink before they drive personally I will not support that and any member that tries that shall be sanctioned according to the union law; it is illegal and abnormal to drink and drive .
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