Comrade Adewale Adeyanju is the President of the dockworkers Union of Nigeria under the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), before now, he was elected as the national treasurer of the MWUN at the headquarters in Lagos where he served for eight years before his new position as the president of dockworkers branch. In this chat with our correspondent DAPO OLAWUNI, Comrade Adeyanju spoke on how the port concession exercise 2006 has affected dockworkers operating in Nigeria.
Comrade Adewale Adeyanju is the President of the dockworkers Union of Nigeria under the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), before now, he was elected as the national treasurer of the MWUN at the headquarters in Lagos where he served for eight years before his new position as the president of dockworkers branch. In this chat with our correspondent DAPO OLAWUNI, Comrade Adeyanju spoke on how the port concession exercise 2006 has affected dockworkers operating in Nigeria.
What is the difference between the dockworkers of 2006 and the dockworkers of today?
The difference is very glaring, the dockworkers we have before now does not have condition of service, anybody can be picked on the road and the moment you enter the port they consider you to be a dockworker, but now the dockworkers of today know their left from their right, things have really changed, you cannot just go inside the port and say you want to work without due process, formally we do not have what is called ‘due process’ but today dockworkers have employers that are regulating us, today dockworkers can go on leave, unlike before there was nothing like that, it is when there is rainfall that we consider it as a bonus, but today things have changed, there has been an improvement in the lives of dockworkers.
How will you rate NIMASA as the agency in charge of the dockworkers?
We will continue to rate them because they are government regulatory agents, the area they are not performing I think they are trying to put their act together, I believe the present NIMASA administration is equal to the task but we cannot rule out lapses from the administration, there is delay in the payment of dockworkers, what suppose to be given to them is delayed but I believe the present leadership of NIMASA is trying to put their house together and doing things the way it should be.
How about their biometric identification cards?
I have raised the issue with NIMASA because the identification cards have expired, it normally has two years duration, but I think they are putting things in motion to make sure that they re-register all the dockworkers, they have given us assurances that everybody working in the port will be registered.
How has the biometric cards improved your operations?
It is just to identify you as a bonafide dockworker inside the port, like I said earlier; you cannot just come into the port and say you want to work without due process, the card is to identify you and this is just the benefit, somebody cannot just come from outside and claim to be a dockworker without due process, but with the I.D card from NIMASA and from the employer of labor confirms you as eligible to be inside the port.
Some of your members were recently sacked by ENL, it appears dockworkers welfare is not strong enough?
There has been a lot of improvement since the terminal operators came into the port business, but we cannot get it done hundred percent, life is a continuous process, it’s a continuous process because we have not gotten it before, when the terminal operators came in because of the port concession we had LGIS that regulates the condition of service, recently we got about fifteen percent increase on their wages, even the executive vice chairman of ENL who is also the chairperson of the Seaport and Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) Princess Vicky Haastrup has really done a lot for our dockworkers, but the issue of somebody stealing, no union will encourage that, when you load excess or you steal, how do you expect the union to come and protect you? We cannot do that, we keep talking to them and sanitizing them that the era of somebody behaving like there is no authority is no longer in existence, everybody has to be more responsible to their job, so if those ones from ENL are complaining of being suspended because they stole, let them go anywhere, the whole world will even blame them for it, because the union is already protecting them, their welfare, their unit or district executives have not taken anything contrary from them so why did they go into stealing, it is not done anywhere and no union leader will support any of his members stealing, if the terminal operators are not living up to expectation, you have your leaders, report the terminal operator so that we can take action on them, this is why we have not relented on our oars, we keep on meeting with terminal operators and we keep on demanding for what belongs to the workers. But you cannot rule out some bad eggs among us, if I got 70% I think I am okay with them, if the remaining 30% wants to continue in the old ways they normally behave then they need to be re-sensitized.
How do you feel about the case you recently won against the former president of MWUN; Ukamuna?
It is a plus to the new executives and it is a plus to dockworkers and maritime as a whole, it is also a plus to the new president general of the union, Anthony Nted Emmanuel because we don’t run thuggery unionism again, you can come in and we will dialogue, we strongly believe in dialogue, since the coming in of the terminal operators I don’t think you have heard that this present executive have declared any trade dispute against the terminal operators or against the federal government, if we have any problem against the terminal operator they call us and we seat down at a round table to get our result. The case we won in the court is a plus, to tell you the truth, this present administration is a God sent to the port, unlike what we use to have when the former president was there, we know the type of leadership he run, but we don’t run that now, we believe in running what we call scientific unionism, and this is why stakeholders today cannot talk bad about the leadership of the maritime workers union of Nigeria because the leadership is very discipline and we always discipline our members, we let them know the implication of turning themselves into thugs, we are not touts anymore, even if I leave the union today I will continue to be supporting dockworkers because we have buried the era of thuggery. Ukamunna has his own past records, we have our own, if the allegation leveled against him was true then it is between him and the government, we were not the one that threw him out of the ports in the first instance, he had a problem with stakeholders when he was in power, but the present administration is trying to bring everybody closer to the system, they are our leaders and we have respect for them, let’s bring everybody together and make sure that the industry improves, but some of them are adamant because they still believe in unionism of attacking each other, but here, we don’t do that, the present leadership under Anthony Nted Emannuel has sent about 3,000 people for overseas training and it is a gradual process, since he came in he has been training and re-training dockworkers with the support of some stakeholders that has interest in the life of dockworkers.
What is the parameter for selecting them for the training?
We started from the national body, from there to the branch and from the branch we moved to the district, and presently we are trying to extend it to the unit level where we are having the major problem, we believe that if you train your child at a young age, when he grows up he would have adapted to the training without any problem, I think my President General is trying to extend it to the local units.
What will you consider as your greatest achievement since you took over as president?
I will leave this to the workers and the rest of the stakeholders to say, but when I came in here I inherited problems: unemployment, when I came in I met over 2,500 dockworkers that has no job, many of them were thrown out during the crisis, but with the support of the terminal operators and the shipping companies, because they have respect for me and we also have respect for them, we were able to ensure that all of them are employed, it is only the lazy ones among them that are still living in the old times, I cannot continue to tell you the achievements, it is God that can talk about someone’s achievement. Dockworkers branch is a volatile branch that is so challenging and very tedious in terms of accommodating human beings, so it has not been easy but I am happy to associate myself with the dockworkers of today because they are sensible and they are respectful, this is why there is peace all over the port today unlike what we always had, you would have seen elements of destructions here and there and people carrying placards and making trouble, but because of the leadership and the trainings, things have improved, these are part of our achievements. By October again we are going to commission our new secretariat in Abuja that the present leadership built.
What are the challenges?
Somebody leading the dockworkers must be very proactive in the sense that they always demand, if you don’t pay them their single penny you are in trouble, but today they always dialogue with us and without wasting time we are always there for them, but the challenges I am having now is the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) that they have not been paid and the matter is still with NIMASA, everybody has verified and dropped their account numbers, but because of the new changes in the leadership of NIMASA there has been a delay in the payments. It has to do with the NSITF that was deducted from the worker’s salary in 2002 under the stevedoring contractors, the money does not cover all dockworkers in the port, it is only for those that their employer deducted from them, but because of widespread news, the anxiety is there and everybody is putting hope on the money, I as a president I worked with Kebbi motors back then and my money is N9,000 to be paid by NIMASA but up till now it has not been paid. So their money is not with the union because that is the thinking of the average dockworkers, we are not holding their money, the money is still with NIMASA hanging in their files, but I am assuring you that before the end of the month it will be paid, this is assurance from NIMASA.
Dockworkers that sued the terminal operators to court
When they were making selections, the rule is very clear and the game is very clear, when they came in, the government has already paid everybody off, and when government pay you off you have no business being in the port, it is now left to the terminal operator to pick whoever they dim feet to do the job, they selected the responsible ones among the ones that were paid off, maybe it is the ones that do not meet up the demands that went to court and unfortunately they lost it, so there is nothing we can do about it, we have fixed majority of them and they are still working in the port.
How are the dockworkers treated at the tank farms?
We have some that are working in tank farms, the tank farm operators have denied dockworkers not to work in their place, as I am talking to you we are having meeting with NIMASA over the issue, they denied us not to work and it has been problematic for the union, they bring in influx of people that are not registered with NIMASA to come and do the job because of the illegal businesses they handle over night. But with what we are doing now with NIMAS, the problem we are having with them will be solved out between NIMASA and the NPA soon. Originally it is the job of dockworkers, fixing and hooking of the hose is our job but they denied us because of their illegal business they do overnight, but because of the pressure of the union to NIMASA we will get there. They are using their main staff to do the job and even some of their drivers also do the job, they know that the dockworkers working at the jetty will be able to know what they are bringing in as a product and they will be able to quantify it, but because of the secrecy they don’t want us to come in.
What is your assessment of the port reform exercise?
For me it has been okay, some of the terminal operators that came in now are good, they have good welfare for the workers and they have it in heart, some have the good intention to make this country and the union move forward while some of them does not have it, some of them believe it is their birthright, and even if you ask them to improve on the welfare of the workers they will not do it, but with the port concession, what I will say is that things have changed in the port, there has been a lot of improvement, even the NPA can say it, we know the way the port was running back then, as a private owner, what I want is to maximize profit and I will not allow anyone to destroy the terminal, this is why there is a lot of improvement.
Is it all the terminals that are cooperating with you, what about those un-cooperating?
We leave them to the almighty to judge, those ones cooperating with us we know them, those that are not cooperating we keep on meeting with them and trying to let them know that they need to improve on their operations, if you go to ENL now I think there is a lot of sanity there unlike what we always have in the past, if we talk of security and safety, APMT are globalised and okay, but in terms of welfares they are very poor and I must say this, it will take you two weeks before you will get anything from APMT management, this is because they change their management every two years, and the present one that is just coming maybe he has the love of Nigeria in his heart. We Nigerians must support the indigenous terminal operators and that is what we are doing, the union is supporting them because if they grow the union and the workers under them will also grow. I want to use this medium to appeal to them that they should have the love of the workers in their heart, it is very important, they are the engine room of the job, they are part of the stakeholders, they are the ones growing the wealth for them so they should have the love of the workers in their heart.
What is the insurance for any dockworker that had accidents on the job?
There is what we called P&I club, there is an insurance covering all the workers working on the vessel, if you notify us that somebody had an accident what we do is to write to the terminal operator and they will now arrange a meeting between us and the P&I club so that we will be able to get their compensations. But in terms safety, this is very paramount in the terminals and even in your houses, it is safety first before any other thing, some terminal operators do not even have what we called safety procedures in their terminals, I don’t want to mention names but they know themselves.
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