The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria

Prior to the emergence of the immediate past national executive council of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in 2001, led by Comrade Onikolease Irabor, the union went through hell in the hands of the then-leadership of Comrade Uzoije Ukaumunna who was forced out of office through the instrumentality of the Federal Government.

Prior to the emergence of the immediate past national executive council of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in 2001, led by Comrade Onikolease Irabor, the union went through hell in the hands of the then-leadership of Comrade Uzoije Ukaumunna who was forced out of office through the instrumentality of the Federal Government.
The removal of the Ukaumunna executives was reportedly based on petitions from users and providers of port services  to the effect that the leadership of Maritime Workers union of Nigeria had become a ‘terrorist organisation’; intimidating shipping companies, harassing the management of Nigerian Ports Authourity( which was at that time, the master stevedore)  and also intimidating other groups.
It was at that time that ‘akugbe’ became legalized (and institutionalised) in which case union leaders were directly involved in placement of dockworkers at the various terminals. For doing this, the leadership (or more precisely) the president general put less men on the job, collected wages for the men, paid them what he felt was okay for them and pocketed the rest.
At the peak of Comrade Ukaumunna’s tenure, he (or is it the union?) was allowed by the then- managing director of NPA, Engr. Wali S. Ahmed to operate a shuttle bus system, moving port users form the Apapa port main gate to the terminal; up to the ‘Bull Nose’ end of the port.
There were allegations of ‘hijack’ of incoming vessels pending when their agents would pay a ransom. The union leaders were accused of all manners of illegalities. The then-president general had his own ‘army of bodyguards’ which dealt with perceived enemies.
These unfriendly practices which made the union president general; ably backed by dockworkers to become a tin god, eventually got to the ears of then –Federal Government which moved against them and constituted a caretaker committee of which the publisher of this newspaper was a member.
The rest is history as the process led to the emergence of a ‘new union’ under the leadership of Comrade Onikolease Irabor in March 2001.
No matter what anyone says, the union, under Irabor was transformed from being a ‘terror’ to a recognized and respected member of the shipping community whose opinions are always sought by stakeholders.
Arguably, the darkest moment in the eight year journey was the inadvertent mass job loss at the Nigerian Ports Authourity as a result of concession, but the question is: Could the union have resisted concession, especially on the face of the fact that port concession was an integral part of the holistic government policy of engendering a private sector-driven economy.
We dare say that, this is the robust union that Comrade Tony Nted Emmanuel inherited four years ago in Benin, Edo state capital.
The MWUN and its four branches, namely: NPA, Dockworkers, Shipping and Courier and Seamen and NIWA, have not deviated from the enviable standard since Comrade Nted mounted the saddle as the President General in March 2009.
It is to the credit of the Comrade Tony Nted Emmanuel-led executives that there has not been any industrial unrest since they took over in 2009; rather the union and its branches have enjoyed a very harmonious relationship with their employers. The union leadership also enjoys the support and confidence of their members; this is demonstrated by the fact that there has been no reported case of uprising at any of the secretariats of the branches and the union’s national headquarters in Apapa.
There has also been peace at the ports and at the various terminals all over the country. Granted, there had been pockets of threats, but they were mere threats that never led to industrial unrests.
Little wonder, he was given an overwhelming second term mandate last week by members of the union to lead them for another four years.
It is our hope that the national executives will not deviate from the path that they have thread in the past four years.
We however task the MWUN to seriously defend the rights of their members and also ensure that the nation’s seaports are not decimated further, all in the name of concessioning of marine services to the private sector.