Members of the Bureau of African Labour Human and Democratic Rights (BALHADER), as well as the Center for the Defence of Human Rights Democratic in Africa (CDHRDA) and the wrongly disengaged Over 5000 Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), have demanded an end to casualization in developing countries.

The groups jointly made the demand as they marked the 17th July International Criminal Justice Day in a joint press conference in Lagos which was held at Uncle G Hotel Olodi Apapa.

In the key paper that was delivered by the Chairman of the Over5000 MWUN Comrade Olumegbo Babatunde, he explained that from year 2000 till 2024 that the public and private sectors that operated the Nigerian port have sacked more than 9, 000 Nigerian Dockworkers without any form of disengagement. Over 900 of these sacked Dockworkers have died without any form of compensation.

That the sacking of professional Dockworkers like himself and others who had worked for 28 years in the Nigerian ports before the Minister of Transport announced their sack was as result of perpetual casualization of the Nigerian Dockworkers by the government.

He maintained that the ills associated with perpetual casualization in Nigeria “are second to Holocaust of the second world war.”

He informed the conference that BALHADER had written to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), MD of Greenview Development terminal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the International Labour Organization and other stakeholders.

He said it was only the ILO that replied and liaised with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for intervention.

“But the NLC to our greatest shock claimed in their reply letters to the ILO that the accident sustained at work never happened and they are not aware of the NGO called BALHADER.

“The question begging for an answer is whose script is the NLC playing here by denying the facts and figures? Comrade Adeoti asked.

He further stated that the ill-treatment of the Nigerian Dockworkers called for worries and sober reflections as a nation.

Comrade Uchenna Uzoije the Programme Director of BALHADER in a Key paper he delivered to mark the International Criminal Justice Day explained in detail the ills concerning perpetual casualization in developing nations and why it should be a crime against humanity.

He noted that perpetual casual workers are prone to mental and physical torture which is likely to affect them for many years.

“Under rules governing port activities on injured Nigerian dockworkers onboard a vessel it is the duty of the contractor and the terminal operators to report to NIMASA about it.

“But such is not the case as the contractor and the Dockworkers’ leaders in collaboration with other port agencies negotiate with ship owners and then give the injured Dockworker peanuts like in the case of Comrade Yomi Adeoti.

“This is so because FGN continues to subject the Nigerian Dockworkers to being perpetual casual workers by refusing to get them a proper employer,” Uzoije said, adding that the attitude should be “condemned by every right thinking Nigerian.”

He also stated that he had written to Mr. President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the need to review and pass the employment law so as to end perpetual casualization in Nigeria.

He further stated that during the 21st March 2023 Conciliation meeting that was convened by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in order to end the protracted crises that have engulfed the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, the Director of Registrar of Trade Unions Mr. Amos Falonipe stated that the present leadership of the union is illegal.

“The 21st March 2021 MWUN election which was conducted to re-elect Comrade Adewale Adeyanju is illegal and cannot stand because it didn’t follow the laid down rules for Trade union elections in Nigeria,” Falonipe reportedly said in the presence of 17 officials of the Ministry of Labour including his nephew Mr. Kehinde Donald Fakunle who is the Assistant Director of Trade Union and Industrial Relations in the same Ministry of Labour with his uncle Mr. Amos.

The groups also want an answer to why Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, according to them, has not been brought to book for running foul of the law.

They accused Adeyanju of fraudulently using a woman to impersonate a representative of the Minister of Labour and Employment at an official gathering to resolve constitutional issues.

The Programme Director urged Nigerians to appeal to the Presidency to wade into the non-payment of over5000 MWUN members who were sacked by the Minister of Transport.

He noted that “over 705 of these sacked Dockworkers have died and we have submitted details to the Ministry of Labour after the conciliation meeting.”

According to him, “there is an urgent need to review the Labour Laws in Nigeria in line with the International Labour Organization recommendations.

“So many Dockworkers that are unlawfully sacked at the nation’s seaport are going through untold hardship. The presidency must act accordingly so as to stop the exploitation of these hardworking Nigerian Dockworkers by port contractors, terminal operators and other port stakeholders.”