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Day of Seafarers: Nigerian seafarers grapple with discrimination, rejection

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2 years ago

Seafarers onboard a ship

The Day of the Seafarers celebration is a day set out globally to showcase the joy and happiness that comes with being a seafarer. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI highlights the challenges that come with being a Nigerian seafarer.

June 25 every year is a day set out by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to celebrate the human element of shipping, the seafarers. The IMO has carefully taken the theme, “MARPOL at 50 – Our commitment goes on” to mark this year’s Day of the Seafarers.

While the IMO’s theme this year is centered on the immediate environment of any seafarer while onboard vessels, the working environment Nigerian seafarers have been subjected to over the years have left many aspiring seafarers to think twice and look for alternative profession.

Discrimination

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, National President of the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association, Mr Bob Yousou, said that despite boasting of seafarers with international and local certifications, the working conditions seafarers are subjected to in Nigeria still call for urgent intervention by the appropriate authorities.

Yousou said, “Our foreign counterparts are not better than us. That they have access to better equipment doesn’t make them better than us because most of our seafarers are well trained in the best schools in the world.

“We have skilled manpower and qualified officers both internationally and locally. When I say internationally, I mean those who have got their foreign certifications while locally refer to seafarers who have their Certificate of Competence (COC).

“However, despite all these certifications, the wages of Nigerian seafarers compared to their foreign counterparts is still very poor. Imagine a situation where a Nigerian captain will be earning lesser than an Indian or Filipino captain despite being on the same level with them?

“We understand when the foreign captain is from developed countries like the United States of America (USA) or Great Britain because the world is classified into developed, developing and third world countries but when the captain is from same third world country like Nigeria and still comes here to earn more than our seafarers who are on the same level with them, then there is a problem.

“We have captains from Philippines, Honduras that come to Nigeria and earn more than our own indigenous captains. Our ship owners make these people look like expatriates and they will be earning 10 times more than what our own captains will be earning. This makes us look inferior and should be discouraged.

“Again, another form of discrimination is tied to when seafarers get their salaries. While foreign seafarers get their salaries as and when due, Nigerian seafarers don’t receive their salaries as and when due. Delay of salaries is one issue confronting Nigerian seafarers and we hope the new government can help us look into this.

“The absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for seafarers is one area that exposes our officers to threat of sack and dismissal anytime they complain over issues affecting their welfare onboard vessels.

“So, because there is no CBA for seafarers, our officers are second class citizens on board vessels compared to foreign seafarers. Our officers don’t have right to anything onboard. If they complain, they get sack threats, while the foreign seafarers are treated like gods onboard vessels in our own country.

“We need the new administration to ensure that Nigerian ship owners comply with the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC). If they do that, every seafarer onboard vessels, irrespective of nationality, will know that they have a say in what affects them.”

Rejection

For female seafarers in Nigeria, it has been a tale of rejection from working onboard vessels due to vessel specification that are not designed to accommodate both sexes.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, President/Coordinator of the Female Seafarers’ Association of Nigeria (FESAN), Mrs Koni Duniya, explained that over 80 female seafarers are currently jobless due to rejection from ship owners.

Duniya said, “Giving the global average, Nigeria has not fared better when we look at female participation in seafaring. We are still within the global average of below two percent. This is not an encouraging number for us at FESAN.

“It is not that Nigeria does not have enough female seafarers. It is just that the number of those employed is not encouraging. The unemployment issue is the problem we are currently facing in Nigeria. We have enough female seafarers, but most of them are jobless.

“If many female seafarers are thriving and are gainfully employed, the profession will become attractive to young female students who aspire to work on ships. That is why as President of FESAN, I don’t encourage young girls to come and join seafaring.

“As at today, we have about 30 female seafarers with Certificate of Competency (CoC) but are unemployed. For the ones looking for sea-time, we have over 50 female seafarers in this category. So, in total, we have about 80 female seafarers doing nothing.

“Most of the vessel owners will tell you that their vessel specification does not encourage female participation in seafaring. What this means is that they don’t have ships that allows one cabin to one woman. They will prefer to have four or five seafarers onboard using one cabin. A lady cannot stay in the midst of the male seafarers, so automatically she is out of the picture.”

Review of government policy

For the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), if Nigeria must be part of the countries that have their economies driven by shipping, then it must look into the roles of the seafarers via reviewing existing governing policies that define the blue economy.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, National President of NAMM, Captain Tajudeen Alao, explained that apart from the span of Nigeria’s coast and navigable rivers, the country has not been putting seafarers where they ought to be.

“In our time, the urge to become a seafarer was driven by the desire to see the world. However, today it is economic. The Federal Government needs to come out with a deliberate national policy on seafaring.

“I have been thinking along the line that Nigeria needs a body similar to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that will focus on seafaring. Like JAMB, such body will solely be for young people that have interest in making shipping and maritime a career.

“As we speak, there is no laid down guideline or procedure for young Nigerians who desire a career in maritime or shipping.

“Yes, there are a whole lot of private maritime academies littering the country, but the motive behind these private academies is for profit because Nigeria currently does not have a national carrier. We don’t have ships that we can call national fleet. So, many business men just float private maritime academies across the country just to make money.”

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