Dockworkers' Day 2024: MWUN Makes Appeal With FG Regarding Port Concession Agreement Renewal
Kathy Kyari
The Federal Government has been strongly urged to hasten the signing of the Port Concession Agreements Renewal, as the President - General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, claims that it has affected operations at the seaports.
Comrade Adeyanju underlined the pressing need to complete the long-overdue renewal during his speech at the 2024 Dockworkers' Day event, which was jointly organised by the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) and the MWUN.
Adeyanju bemoaned the prolonged wait to renew port concession agreements for terminal operators.
“We want to see the renewal of the licenses of terminal operators. There are a lot of dividends that we are getting from responsible terminal operators. Why are you delaying the signing of their agreements? The workers are now warming up because they are worried about what is happening to their employers,” he stated.
Despite spending millions of dollars outfitting the university, Adeyanju bemoaned the lack of worldwide recognition for certification from Maritime University Oron and called for homegrown and seasoned professionals to train dockworkers.
Along with this, he demanded that terminal operators fund the training of maritime workers and assign competent staff to spearhead these initiatives. He also advocated for increased capacity building for dockworkers.
Eugene Agha, President of SCAN, stated in his speech that Nigeria is headed towards optimising its marine resources with the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Both public and private stakeholders, in Agha's opinion, are already setting themselves up to benefit from this development.
“In an import-dependent economy, and with the port sector being a primary segment for revenue generation and economic diversification, we at SCAN believe that dockworkers are pivotal in transforming efforts to exploit the nation’s marine potentials into economic wealth,” Agha concluded.
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