Port workers’ welfare in focus as SCAN holds dockworkers’ day

Welfare and issues affecting the dockworkers in the nation’s seaport would be brought on the front burner as the Shipping Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria (SCAN) perfect plans to host the second edition of the SCAN Dockworkers’ Day.

Themed, ‘Dockworkers: Key to Unlocking Nigeria’s Blue Economy,’ the event, organised in collaboration with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), will focus on the need to properly position, through capacity building, the dockworkers, who are integral to cargo handling in the nation’s port terminals.

This aligns with the efforts of increasing developments in the port industry to robustly and resourcefully harness the ocean economy for the sector to contribute more to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
To actualise this, the port sector is primary to that pursuit, and the dockworker is an indispensable human resource.

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The event will draw the attention of stakeholders, especially the government, terminal operators, and dockworkers themselves, to the imperative of capacity building to the increasing expectations from the sector in a dynamic operating environment.

Slated for Thursday, September 12, 2024, at the Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, Adegboyega Oyetola, minister of Marine and Blue Economy, is expected to attend as a special guest, while Adebayo Sarumi, former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, will serve as the chairman of the occasion.

Other special guests include Pius Akutah, executive secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council; Dayo Mobereola, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and Abubakar Dantsoho, managing director of NPA.

Meanwhile, Vicky Haastrup, chairperson of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, other terminal operators while Ascanio Russo, managing director of PTML, is to attend as the keynote speaker.

Eugene Agha, president of SCAN, said the event will also be an occasion to celebrate the exceptional dockworkers at the various districts, as well as the most supportive regulatory agencies and terminal operators.