Reuben Ovai (Rector Stars Maritime Academy)
The MLC 2006 creates an opportunity where the seafarers will have confidence in themselves and to also give them a brighter future because in a country like Nigeria, seafarers are not organized, they are on their own, there is no encouragement from anywhere and with something like MLC, there will be a platform to champion their cause. With the MLC, they will feel secure in the sector, and then I will say MLC 2006 is a welcome idea because we all know that Nigerian seafarers are suffering.
Reuben Ovai (Rector Stars Maritime Academy)
The MLC 2006 creates an opportunity where the seafarers will have confidence in themselves and to also give them a brighter future because in a country like Nigeria, seafarers are not organized, they are on their own, there is no encouragement from anywhere and with something like MLC, there will be a platform to champion their cause. With the MLC, they will feel secure in the sector, and then I will say MLC 2006 is a welcome idea because we all know that Nigerian seafarers are suffering.
Kehinde Fie (Seafarer) The introduction of the MLC 2006 is a step in the right direction, it is suitable to help Nigerian seafarers for a brighter future and we will only hope and pray to God for a proper implementation after been domesticated and we beg the authority concern to represent our interest so that it won't be a failure in our country.
John Okpono (Asst Secretary Merchant Navy)
Nigeria started well at least we followed due process towards the ratification of the MLC and after that we are to domesticate it. Once it is domesticated we will look for a possibility of looking at the Nigerian law itself and how it will suit the laws of MLC. The MLC is not too far from the Cabotage Act because the benefits are very enormous. Therefore the August deadline means that it is binding on all countries and it has huge advantages on all the seafarers in member countries involved.
Isaac Isunama (President, AMERO)
The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 takes effect from this week and we expect the Nigerian seafarers to benefit from it because it is the voice and platform that can make things work for them. But on the other hand, I expect both the seafarers and dockworkers to have a common relationship whereby whenever their demands are not met; they should raise alarm to the concerned regulatory agency because it goes beyond being ratified, perhaps domestication of the MLC 2006 is another stage entirely. The Nigerian seafarer is one of the lowest paid in the world and with MLC issues like this will be addressed.
Babatunde Samuel (Registrar, POTEMAN)
The Maritime Labor Convention 2006 is a product of the International Labor Convention (ILO) saddled with the responsibility of formulating policies that will assist the standardization and certification of dockworkers and seafarers. Nigeria will benefit so much from the convention in the area of training module that will be introduced compared to the STCW 95 that has been in enforcement for long. Secondly the Nigerian environment will also benefit for being a member of the global village, it will position Nigeria being the giant of Africa in the scheme of implementation, this will go a long way in translating into economic, social and professional gains, as time goes on we can equally export our professionals from this part of the world to less privileged countries. We can export our professionalism to these countries and Nigeria will benefit from it. Don't forget that when we talk about labour, it goes beyond the seaports alone, it includes all activities that takes place in the terminals either bonded or off-dock terminals.
Galtima Liman (Maritime Consultant)
The question we ought to ask is, what is the capacity of labour in the industry considering the size of the economy and even after the demise of the national shipping line, the second thing is the arrival of the private sector and the terminal operators, the introduction of capital intensive cranes and other equipment, even with these, capacity building and training has not been sustained for a number of years because the platform for training onboard labour and off dock labour has not been there. So, whether or not Nigeria has acceded to any convention is not the issue, the issue is; the old convention itself how far have we utilized it? Do we even have seafarers? The MLC 2006 is an intention for positive growth, but what I am saying is that, given what we have on ground, the fact is that we don't have a National fleet robust enough to provide the platform, our young men are unemployed, this can only be generated by the existence of a national fleet which is lacking, the little effort being made by the Cabotage Act is a ding-dong affair still.
Chief Eugene Nweke (NAGAFF President)
Nigeria acceding to the MLC 2006 is a blessing to our seafarers because it will remove the high handed posture and bureaucratic bottlenecks of those in government that love to monopolize a given system. Since Nigeria has subscribed to it, if the labour employers do anything short of what the convention provides for, then the seafarers will have somewhere to report to, there will be a higher authority that will call them to order and compel them, we are talking about the welfare and security, the entitlements given to these seafarers, if the ILO says this is what the practice should be and the employers are trying to monopolize it by denying them their rights, then the labour can close down the port, all they need to do is to report to the global body. For example, how come that America gave us 90 days to comply with the ISPS Code or else American vessels and its allies will stop coming to Nigeria, and what happened next is that we started running up and down, so the MLC is a good thing.
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