The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday in Abuja approved the domestication of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 to transform the nation’s maritime sector.
The Maritime Labour Convention (2006) is an international labour treaty, which regulates the terms and conditions of employment of Seafarers in the shipping industry.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday in Abuja approved the domestication of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 to transform the nation’s maritime sector.
The Maritime Labour Convention (2006) is an international labour treaty, which regulates the terms and conditions of employment of Seafarers in the shipping industry.
The code of the convention contains five titles: minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship; conditions of employment; accommodation; recreational facilities; food and catering; health protection; medical care; welfare and social security protection as well as compliance and enforcement.
The convention has already been ratified by 39 countries including four African countries, namely Gabon, Benin, Liberia and Togo.
Confirming the approval, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, who briefed newsmen on the outcome of the weekly FEC meeting, said the council’s approval followed a joint memorandum submitted by the ministers of labour and transport, Chief Emeka Nwogu and Idris Umar, respectively.
He observed that in the past seven years, Nigeria was unable to domesticate the agreement in spite of the obvious advantages.
Maku, however, stated that the ratified convention would be forwarded to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to prepare the legal instrument for its domestication.
According to him, “Council today devoted its discussion to a robust debate on the need to domesticate the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention, which the ILO adopted as far back as that time in Geneva.
“That year 2006 Nigeria, among several countries of the world debated and adopted a new Maritime Labour Convention for the world.
“In the course of this period of seven years, Nigeria has been unable to domesticate this convention in spite of its manifest advantages for the maritime sector in Nigeria.
“And so, today the Minister of Labour, in collaboration with the Minister of Transport, presented a joint memo asking the Federal Executive Council to take the right step by giving the go-ahead for the Attorney-General to prepare the instruments for domestication of this convention.’’
Also speaking on the advantage of the agreement to Nigeria, the Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar, said the convention, when fully operational, would boost the nation’s seafaring business.
According to him, there are already 4,362 Nigerians currently working on board international ships across the world and domestication will further give them coverage on all the items in the convention’s code.
The convention is expected to come into force by August 2013.
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