By Victor AhiumaYoung

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, are planning to jointly conduct a physical verification of the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line, NNSL seafarers/next of kins.

“The development is part of interface between the two organisations over the protracted issue of unpaid terminal benefits of former employees of the defunct NNSL. “The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh and President-General of MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, at meeting in Lagos, jointly agreed for physical verification of the affected seafarers/next of kin as the case may apply.

The verification would also ascertain the nature of appointment of all affected seafarers, and the exact amount due each beneficiary.

The NIMASA D-G also assured the Union that their position would be communicated to the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, to ensure Government takes all necessary actions to bring to a conclusion, the issue of NNSL. 

It will be recalled that MWUN had last month rejected plans by the Federal Government to re-float the NNSL,  28 years after liquidation by the government of Olusegun Obasanjo.

The union argued that besides not carrying Organised Labour along, the benefits of disengaged and other former employees of defunct NNSL were yet to be paid by the same government that liquidated the national carrier 28 years ago.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, had earlier at the ministry’s first Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement on Advancing Sustainable Development in Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy sector, in Lagos informed that the ministry plan to re-float the NNSL through through a strategic Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

However, speaking, Dr Jamoh said: “The issue of industrial harmony in the maritime sector is of uttermost interest to our administration at NIMASA. We have been at this for a while. NIMASA had offered N100 million  as settlement, which the Union declined. We have also discovered that some of those demanding settlement did not even have any employment letter. 

“We will follow the lead from our supervising Ministry and ensure the physical verification exercise is brought to a logical conclusion. Our Honourable minister will be duly updated by the Agency. I look forward to closing this issue in months to come.”

On his part, Prince Adeyanju stressed Union’s commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes to ensure the rights and privileges of workers were well protected without disrupting productivity in the Maritime Sector.

He commended the Jamoh led Management at NIMASA, urging others to follow suit, saying:  “I will like to commend NIMASA under Dr Jamoh, for the unflinching commitment to industrial harmony. He is always a phone call away to resolve any issue.