Comrade Adewale Adeyanju is President of Dockworkers Branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). In this recent interview with Shipping Position Daily's Dapo Olawuni, he explained latest development on the payment of outstanding packages to tally clerks and on-board security men by the Nigerian Ports Authority. He also lamented that most dockworkers are on the verge of losing their jobs.
"Treasury Single Account is going to lead to a lot of delays"
PTML recently sacked some workers and others are threatening to do same, how prepared are you for job loss among your members?
We are fully on ground, it has not affected us but we are still seriously working on the situation, we hope it is not going to affect our members the way it affected other people, because dockworkers’ job is very volatile, coupled with the economic downturn that is affecting the sector, but we pray that it does not generate into too much downsizing.
The retrenchment at PTML, how much did it affect dockworkers?
Our job is not that of shipping, the shipping department of our union are the ones that can explain how it affected them, the people that were downsized according to what I learnt are from the shipping department of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, and it was as a result of the low cargo traffic. We all know that in the port now there is no vessel, dockworkers are even feeling the pains more because there is no job, it is not until you send us letter of downsizing that we will now prepare, we are already prepared for downsizing because the job is not coming, but we hope that the new administration will do something better to make the life of everybody to be okay.
How has this low cargo traffic affected the welfare of your members?
It is affecting the economy, the dockworkers and the maritime industry at large, imagine APMT of all terminals, hardly could you see five or six vessels in a week now, you can go and verify, the APMT that we believe is the number one terminal operator in the whole of West Africa, hardly can they stevedore six vessels in a week, this is to tell you how the situation is biting harder and it is affecting the life of dockworkers.
How many vessels does APMT normally handle?
They stevedore about 14 to 20 vessels in a month or more than, but now hardly can they stevedore 15 to 16 vessels. I remember that about one week ago they had only one vessel for the whole week, this is to tell you that maritime industry now needs prayers for things to get better.
Rice is also one of the mainstream of the Apapa port, are the rice ships coming?
Where is the rice vessel? It is the tariff that has scared people away, the moment you increase your tariff, how do you expect me to bring in my rice, when you are demanding 200% tariff, this is why majority of the vessels are being diverted to Cotonou Port, if you go over there you will see all the vessels lined up. I believe the new government will do something about it, the high tariff is affecting the terminal operators and the dockworkers, it is even affecting me as the Dockworkers Branch President because everyday people throng my office to complain. The tariff is very high and this is why importers are diverting their rice vessels. If you go to Calabar, Port Harcourt and Onne ports, there is no vessel, if Lagos is crying of low traffic, what will the other ports do? I receive distress calls all the time, and what can we do, we can only appeal to the new administration for them to do something better.
What is your take on the plan of Government to grow rice locally, rather than importing?
Everybody is going into mechanized farming, how long will this have any effect? When last did you eat "Ofada Rice"; which is Nigeria's local rice? People cannot buy it because it is even costlier than the rice that is imported, it is also scarce, we have about 160million Nigerians and our main food is rice, if you go to different households, the major food they eat there is rice, at least twice in a week they must eat it. So when you talk about growing our own rice there is nothing wrong with it, but we also need to supplement.
The union recently gave ultimatum on the payment of benefit to tally clerks and on-board security men, how far has the union gone with it?
The management of NPA are trying to make sure that they pay the tally clerks and on-board security men, we have tried to find out what is causing the delay, but you remember this 'One Account' thing (Treasury Single Account) this is what we gathered, but they have started paying outer ports, they have paid one stevedoring company in Port Harcourt, we hope they speed up and pay others. They said they have started paying but we have not seen the money physically, the mind-set of the workers is that they are hearing the money but they cannot see it. The Single Treasury Account is going to cause delay, unlike before when they have separate accounts, but now they have single account, they find it difficult to withdraw cash, this is the way I see it.
NPA boss was sacked in May 2015, and now he has been brought back, what are your expectations?
The government has the powers to appoint and terminate appointments, they appointed Abdullahi in the first place, and they have brought him back to come and finish his job, the government knows why they have brought him back; probably it is because they know that he is an experienced person. Unlike the man they had brought to replace him, HabIb Abdullahi is a technocrat on the job, he knows the job and that is why government brought him back, how can you appoint someone that does not know the job to come and head the Nigerian Ports Authority? It is not for sale, government has tested Abdullahi, they trusted him and that is why they have asked him to come back. For the past three months the whole of the ports were silent, but with the new MD coming in now, I believe things will change.
Now that he is back, how will you advise him?
Life is a lesson, he must have learnt from his mistakes, you cannot satisfy people, he should do his best and leave the rest for God, but let him improve on the welfare of of the workers, what I am praying for is for him to pay the salaries of the tally clerks and on-board security men, and improve on the welfare of the workers. I don't have any issue with him, he is our MD, we need to respect him, we have been working together and we will continue to work together, but the needful must be done.
We gathered that Wharf Rats are back at some terminals in the port and dockworkers are being fingered
It cannot be at ENL, and where is the job in ABTL? Do you know how many workers were sacked in ABTL? The place is as empty; to tell you how the economy is affecting the lives of Dockworkers, if there is no job inside the ports for us, how can Dockworkers now come in? There is nothing like wharf rats at the port, before now we used to have challenges at ENL but now things have improved, every day we sensitize our members and now there is change in the life of the workers and even the terminal operators. If there is any wharf rat in the port, I would have been informed. The era of somebody stealing at the port is no longer there, the terminal operator would have written to me and complained bitterly about it.
What are the challenges of the union at the Eastern Ports?
The challenges we are having is this low cargo traffic, if Lagos is complaining, what about the eastern ports, Calabar Port have not had any vessel for four months, we are all feeling the pains because of the changes in administration, the tariff on rice and other essential commodities.
How will you advise the government to address these challenges?
We have been sending our contributions to the government; we cannot do more than what we have been doing to make the world know that the life of maritime workers is not smooth. The President is just there, no ministers yet, he is working with his permanent secretaries, when the ministers are appointed, things will pick up. We have sent our contributions to the government on review of policies, especially the rice policy, it is left for the government to adhere to our advice, we will keep on advising them.
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