The Registrar, Port & Terminal Management Academy Of Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Babatunde, has said that the 2006 port reforms helped reduced drastically the degree of theft in Nigeria’s seaports to 15 per cent from the 55 per cent recorded before then.

Delivering the keynote address at the maiden edition of Dockworkers Day, themed ‘Dockworkers, the unsung heroes of port reforms, organised by the Shipping Correspondent Association of Nigeria (SCAN), Babatunde said that four factors necessitate the port reforms.

“No doubt, the ports have benefited from the private sector experience of ability to fix things right. In likewise manner, dockworkers have strategically assisted in the actualisation of the desires of port reforms in the following ways.

“The degree of theft in our seaports has reduced drastically from recorded 55 per cent to 15 per cent. The degree of port efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness has improved tremendously from previous figure of 25 per cent to 85 per cent.

“The degree of dwelling time of cargoes in the port has shifted from more than three weeks to less than one week under port reforms. The rate of port workers accident has reduced drastically from 55 per cent before reforms, now to less than 13 per cent. The degree of port dockworkers welfare packages in terms of remuneration, allowances and other privilege’s has increased and improved from lower to higher, making dockworkers a reasonable career,” Babatunde stated.

Speaking also at the event, the Chairman of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Vicky Haastrup, disclosed that dockworkers at the ports have had their take-home increased by 2000 percent since the Federal Government introduced the port reform in 2006.

Haastrup added that before the port concession, dockworkers were poorly paid, because there was no condition of service then.

She further said that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBI) between the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and terminal operators has ensured industrial harmony.

According to the STOAN Chairman: “Today, the average take-home pay of a dockworker has increased by more than 2,000 per cent over what it was in 2006.”

Haastrup, who is also the Executive Vice Chairman, of ENL Consortium, thanked the Federal Government for the 2006 port concessions.

Also speaking, President-General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju congratulated SCAN for putting together the programme to celebrate dockworkers.

“The ports were delineated in 2006 to 25 terminal operators with lease agreements ranging between 10 to 25 years. Until now, the agreements have not been renewed because of inter-agency rivalries and the culprits are the unsung heroes, the dockworkers. It is said that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers.”

Earlier, in his welcome address, the President of SCAN, Eugene Agha, said that the role of dockworkers cannot be over-emphasised in the maritime sector, maintaining that they are critical to Nigeria maximising the available opportunities in the N33.2trn yearly global seaborne trade.