James Adams [Dockworker]
James Adams [Dockworker]
To me, it is the NIMASA and the Dockworkers union that should be held responsible for what is happening to the dockworker, the union leaders are responsible for our plight in the sense that they are not doing the right thing, they are supposed to be the intermediary between the dockworkers and the government agency that is, NIMASA for our welfare package and our safety, but nothing is being done to the common man who work in this sector. For over three months, we have not been paid and we have a union who are to represent our interest. NIMASA know full well that after the concession of the port, they are to take care of the dockworkers affairs but they act as if it not their duty and responsibility. Since the port concession, we don’t have a say as we have been pushed from pillar to post.
Mr. Chima Sampson [Registrar NIS]
My own opinion concerning the issue of dockworkers plight is that if we go by history when NMA and JOMALIC were separate entities ,JOMALIC was responsible for all the activities of the dockworkers and so on, but going by the merger which gave birth to NIMASA, all dockworker activities , welfare, safety and other relevant package now falls on NIMASA, because it is their duty to oversee the affairs of the dockworker .So if their packages are not okay, NIMASA should be held responsible because it is their primary objective to meet the demands of the labours in the port and these are some of the things that make the NIMASA Act, because it is clearly stated in the NIMASA Act. NIMASA should be held responsible and they should do something positive as soon as possible, because the one strike alone has jeopardized the activities in the port worth billions of naira.
Odekanyin Ifedayo [Freight Forwarder]
Since the port concession, the dockworkers are not properly taken care of by the government agency .They were even looking for an avenue to eradicate the dockworkers from the port. In my own opinion, they should just merge them to the shipping companies and let the shipping companies take care of the dockworkers. Let the shipping companies absorb the dockworkers and it should be mandated by the government to take full control of the welfare package of the labour in the port. We all know they earn a little, but I think it is high time government came in fully to implement ways in which the dockworkers package and welfare are met fully.
Dan Williams [P.R.O, FFAN]
The Nigerian Port Authority is the landlord of the port, while NIMASA is the care taker of dockworkers, while the port concessionaires that is, the terminal operators are the company which the dockworkers are under. So, I believe the company should be responsible for the welfare of the dockworkers because they are working for the terminal operators. It is the terminal operators that should be held responsible for the plight of the dockworkers and not NPA ,but what I think NIMASA should do is to regulate and control the what the terminal operators are doing to the dockworkers because NIMASA has a department which takes care of the dockworkers /labour affair and there is a director in charge of that department who I feel is not doing much to meet the demand of the dockworkers .What I found out in this sector is that minister come up with committees upon committees and yet none is effective and what it means is that such committees have not been working .The terminal operators claim that they don’t have money, but day- in- day- out, series of containers are found in the various terminals in the country .To me the terminal operators are the ones to take care of the dockworkers .When the port was not concessioned, there was a body called JOMALIC which takes care of the dockworker, but today that body is a part of NIMASA and I believe they know how to tackle the issue of the dockworkers .Therefore the terminal operators and NIMASA are to do the right for the dockworkers .
Mr. Damian Adumukwe [Taskforce Secretary NAGAFF, Tincan chapter]
The organisation that is expected to meet the demands of the dockworkers is the Nigerian Ports Authourity, because they are the people that are making sure the port is not congested and they are the landlords ,every other stakeholders are tenants and the landlord is supposed to take charge of the affair of the tenant.NPA, been the landlord are suppose to take care of the dockworkers and to make sure they are well paid. NPA is responsible for the dockworkers’ predicament and if we say it is the Nigerian Port Authority then we will say the government is responsible, because NPA is a parastatal of the Nigerian Government .It is a common issue for the government to address the dockworkers condition but some set of people up there feels the dockworkers are not relevant, but I will say it’s a lie. They are very important to the port and the sector in general so the government should do something about their conditions urgently
Okechuku James [dockworker]
Government has the power to oversee the affairs of the dockworkers in the port. The government has the right to decide for the union. NIMASA, as the government agency is not doing their work, our problem is NIMASA. Since the port has been privatized, the dockworkers do not have a say and it is a big problem to us and why it is affecting the labour today is that, most of them if they come to the port to inspect the activities of dockworkers, instead of them to ask the port labour the problem we are facing, they go straight to the management which in turn is not a direct way to gather the right information. So NIMASA is our problem not the Nigerian Port or the union.
Akeem Olaleye [Clearing Agent]
I will hold the shipping companies responsible for the condition of the dockworkers, though the NPA is supposed to facilitate the activities of the labourers in the port but for now the port has been privatized and it no longer their duty. Government is no longer involved in the issue of the Nigerian dockworkers, but the private investors that want to do business in the port, truly the dockworkers are not properly taken care of and the situation is becoming alarming.
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