It was a milestone event for the local maritime industry as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) hosted the maiden edition of the Day of the Dockworker in Lagos recently.
The ceremony with the theme: Healthy Dockworker, Better Productivity, was an opportunity for stakeholders gathered to not only appreciate the efforts of Nigerian dockworkers at the centre of the nation’s import-dependent economy, but also to focus on ways of improving their health and general well-being.
Delivering his welcome address at the event, the NIMASA Director General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, charged employers of labor to ensure all dockworkers are enrolled on contributory pension schemes, while also emphasizing the need for operators of Oil and Gas Terminals to allow only approved stevedores aboard their installations, to ensure compliance with relevant international guidelines and conventions.
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Jamoh said: “As we celebrate today, it is important to put in the right perspective the plight of dockworkers who spend a greater part of their working life at the ports with little or nothing to show for it.
“As employers of labour, you must endeavour to put in place a Contributory Pension Scheme for dockworkers and ensure prompt remittances of both employers and employees’ contributions at the end of every month.”
