Maritime Labour and Trade Union
Unity is our Strength : Comrade Owolabi Speaks on Justice, Safety and Welfare of Workers on Lagos Waterways
Unity is our Strength : Comrade Owolabi Speaks on Justice, Safety and Welfare of Workers on Lagos Waterways
An Exclusive Interview with Comrade Omotayo Patrick Owolabi, Chairman, Lagos Commercial Private Boat District, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria
By Oghenewoke Osaweren | Labour and trade Union Correspondent | March 2026
Sequel to Comrade Larry’s Interview — in which he highlighted the need for cooperation between workers and boat owners — we turn our attention to the man at the helm of the district, the newly elected chairman. Comrade Omotayo Patrick Owolabi is an experienced union leader whose voice carries the weight of thousands of boat workers whose daily lives and livelihoods play out on the waterways of Lagos. In this exclusive interview, he speaks candidly about the challenges face by members of the union, the future of boat workers in Nigeria, and his expectation of a safer, more just waterway sector.
Q: Comrade Chairman, you now lead the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District after years in the movement. What does this chairmanship mean to you personally, and to the thousands of workers who look to you for direction?
A: Thank you for this opportunity to speak directly to our members and to the public. This chairmanship is not a trophy — it is a burden I carry with both hands. When I look at the faces of our boat workers at the jetties of Marina, Apapa, Ikorodu, Badore,Epe and Badagry , I see people who wake up before dawn, who risk their lives on the waterways every single day, and who go home at night unsure of tomorrow. That responsibility humbles me. I did not take this seat to enrich myself. I took it because someone has to stand in the gap. Our members deserve a chairman who will lose sleep over their welfare, and I intend to be that man.
Q: Your colleague Comrade Larry recently spoke of the need for workers and boat owners to learn to work together. As chairman of this district, how do you view that relationship between labour and capital on the Lagos waterways?
A: Comrade Larry spoke well, and I align fully with his position. The waterways of Lagos are not owned by any single man — they belong to the people, to commerce, to the history of this city. Boat owners bring capital and vessels (boats); our members bring skill, discipline, and their very lives. Neither can function without the other. But let me be frank, cooperation does not mean submission. It does not mean that workers should accept exploitation in the name of peace. True partnership requires mutual respect, fair wages, and decent working conditions. When boat owners fulfil their obligations to our members, they will find in us the most dedicated and loyal workforce in this country. We want harmony — but it must be a harmony built on justice.
Q: Safety remains a persistent concern on Lagos waterways. Overloading, poorly maintained vessels, lack of life jackets — these issues have claimed many lives. What concrete steps is the union taking to address this?
A: The deaths on our waterways are sometimes not by accidents — they are consequences of neglect. When a boat capsizes because it was overloaded beyond capacity that is not an act of God. That is the result of greed, poor regulation, and the absence of enforceable safety standards. Our union has been at the forefront of demanding that every boat owner who intends to operate his or her boat on the waterways of Lagos should provide in the boat, certified standard life jackets for every passenger. We have engaged the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA and the Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA. We are pushing for regular safety audits and for operators who violate safety standards to face real consequences. I am also calling on the Federal Government to take maritime safety on inland waterways as seriously as they take aviation safety. A life lost on the Lagos lagoon is no less precious than a life lost on an aeroplane that is why we are also advocating that the boat ferry transportation to be included in the disbursement of the CVFF fund for boat operators to access and acquire standard modern boats on a prescribed lenient condition by the government, it will go a long way to enhance safety on our waterways because the rickety boats will be removed significantly from the waterways. I will use this media engagement opportunity to commend the effort of NIWA Lagos Area Manager in the person of Engr Sarat Braimah for providing a platform for the training and licensing of some boat captain (workers) recently in Lagos State for free. This will certainly enhance their capability for safety on the waterways. We in the Union really appreciate that act from the NIWA Area Manager. I will also commend the efforts of LASWA General Manager in the person of Mr Damilola Emmanuel who always engage the union over Lagos state waterways development projects. I commend these two government agencies for their swift respond to boat emergencies on Lagos inland waterways by promptly deploying rescue teams to scenes of boat mishaps
Q: Many boat workers lack basic welfare coverage — no health insurance, no pension, and no formal contracts with their employers. How is the union fighting for these workers’ rights?
A: This is one of the most urgent battles we are fighting. The majority of our members exist in a shadow economy — no paper, no protection. Boat captains, engine operators, ticketing staff, jetty hands — they work for years and have nothing to show for it when they are injured or when they grow old. We have been in dialogue with the relevant authorities and with the Boat Owners Associations to establish a contributory welfare scheme. We want every worker in this district registered, documented, and covered. Under my chairmanship, we have begun a registration drive across all our terminals. We are building a database of our members so that we can negotiate from a position of knowledge and strength. No employer should be able to tell us there are no workers when we come to the table — we will bring the names, the numbers, and the facts. The rights, privileges, security, safety and welfare of the boat workers on our waterways needs to be discussed with relevant stakeholders including government agencies.
Q: Irregular and withheld wages remain a common complaint. How does the union intervene when members report that their earnings have been seized or delayed?
A: This is unacceptable, and we treat every such report with the seriousness it deserves. Our district has a grievance management procedure. When a member reports wage non payment — we first engage the boat owner directly. We give them an opportunity to correct the wrong. If they refuse or delay, we escalate the issue. We are not afraid to mobilize our members, and boat owners know that a jetty without workers is a jetty with no business. But I want to be clear: we do not use industrial action as a first resort. We are responsible leaders. We pursue dialogue, then arbitration, and only when all else fails to correct the situation that we exercise our legitimate rights as organized labour. What we will never do is remain silent while our people are cheated.
Q: The Lagos waterway is being described as an underutilized economic asset. Do you see the commercial boat sector playing a bigger role in Lagos transportation, and what must happen for that potential to be realized?
A: Lagos state has the most extensive network of inland waterway in West Africa. The road congestion in this city — the gridlock that steals hours from people’s lives every day — can be significantly relieved by a modern, efficient waterway transport system. But to get there, we need investment. We need modern ferry boats, proper terminals with amenities, trained and certified boat workers, and a serious regulatory framework. Our members are ready. They have the experience and the commitment. What is needed is political will from government and responsible investment from the private sector. There is the multi-billion naira aqua tourism economy potentials of Lagos state that remains grossly untapped. I commend the Lagos state Government under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu on the state’s efforts to invite investors to the Lagos waterways through projects such as the OMI-BUS project and OMI-EKO electric ferries project. I am convinced that when all stakeholders come together with organized labour at the table, we can transform the Lagos waterways.
Q: There are concerns about the proliferation of unregistered boats and unlicensed operators. How does this affect your members, and what is the union’s position on regulation?
A: Unregistered boats and unlicensed operators are a threat to everyone — to passengers, to legitimate operators, and most importantly to our members who follow the rules. When a cowboy operator undercuts proper fares, endangers passengers, and try to escape consequences, it creates pressure on legitimate operators to cut corners too. It undermines the standards we have fought hard to establish. The union fully supports a robust licensing and registration regime — provided it is applied fairly and transparently, and not used as an instrument of harassment or extortion by officials. We want regulation that protects workers and passengers alike, and we want to be part of the process. The union must have a seat at the table when regulations are being designed, not just when we are being told to comply.
Q: What message do you have for boat owners who remain hostile to union activities and who attempt to intimidate workers seeking to exercise their rights?
A: My message is simple and I will say it plainly: the era of treating boat workers with disdain is over. This is the 21st century. Our members have rights enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and in the Nigeria Labour Act. Any boat owner who victimizes a worker for joining this union, for attending union meetings, or for speaking up about unsafe conditions will face the full weight of our legal and industrial response. We document everything. We have members who are now learning their basic rights these days, and we have solidarity across districts. I also want to say to those boat owners who have embraced responsible partnership with the union — we see you, we appreciate you, and we will work with you to build a prosperous and sustainable waterway sector. It does not have to be adversarial. We choose partnership.
Q: As you look ahead, what is your primary vision for the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District under your chairmanship?
A: My vision is a district where every single member can go to work with dignity and return home safely. I want a district where boat workers are not ashamed to say what they do — where being a waterway worker is a respected profession with a career structure, training pathways, fair pay, and social protection. I want to build the institutional capacity of this district so that long after I am gone, the structure remains to serve the next generation of workers. We are putting in place mentorship programmes, working with NGO’s, technical institutions on certification courses for boat operators and engineers, and establishing channels of continuous dialogue with government agencies and employers. We are into talks with an NGO called SWAAADO over this same training, licensing and waterways safety sensitization. This is not about Owolabi. This is about the movement.
Q: Finally, Comrade Chairman, what is your direct message to the workers of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District — the men and women on the waterways every day?
A: To our members on the waterways— the boat captains and deckhand who navigate the lagoon everyday, the engine operators who keep those vessels(boats) moving, the ticketing staff who face the crowds at the jetties, the cleaners and the loaders and every hand that makes this industry work — I say to you: you are seen. You are not invisible. Your sacrifices are not in vain. This union belongs to you, not to me. I am your servant in this office. Stay united, know your basic rights, participate in the union activities, and trust the process we are building together. The road is not easy, but we are walking it together to success. No condition is permanent. A better day is coming for the Lagos waterways and to all our members with the support from our great Union, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria-MWUN under the able and charismatic leadership of our President General Comrade Francis Bunu,we will build a better future with our own hands for the waterways workers. Thank you.
Comrade Omotayo Patrick Owolabi is the Chairman of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). This interview was conducted on March 16 2026 as part of an ongoing leadership interview series with key figures in Nigeria’s waterway transport sector.
Blue Economy
MWUN LAGOS BOAT OPERATORS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND NIWA-PARTS CENTRAL CLEAN-UP, LINK REFUSE TO FATAL BOAT MISHAPS
MWUN LAGOS BOAT OPERATORS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND NIWA-PARTS CENTRAL CLEAN-UP, LINK REFUSE TO FATAL BOAT MISHAPS
Oghenewoke Osaweren | Waterways News
The Lagos Commercial Private Boat District of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has thrown its full weight behind the nationwide inland waterways clean-up drive launched by the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in partnership with Parts Central Limited, with the union’s Lagos leadership tying refuse-choked channels directly to fatal accidents involving its members. District Chairman, Comrade Owolabi Omotayo, gave the commitment during a visit by Waterways News to his office, days after NIWA and Parts Central formally rolled out the 10-year renewable programme in Lagos on August 18.
Omotayo said dumped refuse had done considerable damage to boat operations under his district, with debris repeatedly fouling engines and, in some cases, triggering fatal mishaps on the water. He described MWUN as a formidable force in the maritime sector that would continue to back initiatives serving the positive development of Nigeria’s waterways.
Officials of the Lagos Commercial and Private Boats District of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) at the Waterways Clean-Up Initiative unveiling ceremony
His remarks align with concerns raised at the programme’s official unveiling, where NIWA’s Lagos Area Manager, Engr. Sarat Braimah, identified dredgers, tank farm operators, boat operators and waterfront owners as major contributors to pollution. Braimah pointed to waste-clogged stretches such as Kirikiri, where the water has turned blackish and unsafe, and argued that clean waterways are central to unlocking Lagos State’s blue economy potential, given that roughly a third of the state’s landmass is water.
Under the programme, boats and other watercraft are to be fitted with designated waste bins, while larger “mother bins” will be installed at jetties for operators to offload waste on docking. Parts Central’s Managing Director, Henry Onifade, said the company would deploy monitoring technology across waterfronts, landing ports and jetties to support enforcement and compliance.
For MWUN’s Lagos Commercial Private Boat District, the concern is immediate: members navigate the same debris-strewn channels daily, and engine damage from floating refuse remains a recurring hazard blamed for accidents on the water. Omotayo’s pledge marks a notable alignment between grassroots labour interests and a federal-private clean-up drive, one that will face its real test as the programme shifts from launch to enforcement across Lagos’s waterfronts.
NIGERIA WATCH
Omotayo’s endorsement adds MWUN’s Lagos boat operators to a widening coalition of inland waterway stakeholders lining up behind the NIWA-Parts Central initiative, following SWAAADO’s earlier backing of the same programme. That two separate operator groups, one a registered trade union, the other a registered NGO advocating for a safe and sustainable waterways, have independently, cited fatal engine-fouling incidents as their reason for support suggests the safety argument, not just the environmental one, is what is actually moving grassroots operators to embrace a clean-up scheme historically viewed with scepticism by informal waterway workers.
The pattern is familiar to anyone tracking Lagos’s inland waterways: policy launches attract enthusiastic institutional and labour endorsements, but delivery on the ground — mother bins actually installed at jetties, monitoring technology actually deployed, waste actually collected rather than left to drift back into the channels operators use daily — has historically lagged the announcements. NIWA and Parts Central have set themselves a 10-year renewable timeline; the coming months, as the programme moves from its August 18 unveiling into enforcement, will show whether the operational commitments match the goodwill MWUN and SWAAADO have extended.
Worth watching also is the jurisdictional backdrop: any waterfront enforcement regime in Lagos inevitably intersects with the long-running NIWA-LASWA tussle over control of the state’s waterways. Whether Parts Central’s monitoring technology and enforcement plans are coordinated with, or contested by, LASWA’s own waterfront authority will likely determine how smoothly this clean-up initiative translates from paper to practice.
Maritime Labour and Trade Union
Lekki Freeport Terminal Signs 150% Salary Increase for Dockworkers in Landmark CBA with MWUN, NPA Senior Staff Union
Lekki Freeport Terminal Signs 150% Salary Increase for Dockworkers in Landmark CBA with MWUN, NPA Senior Staff Union
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
Lekki Freeport Terminal (LFT) on Friday signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) granting dockworkers at the facility a salary and allowance increase of up to 150 percent, in what union leaders described as the highest wage package at any port terminal in Nigeria today.
The agreement was jointly signed at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lagos by the President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, and his counterpart at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) branch of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Akinola Bodunde. The LFT delegation was led by its Chief Executive Officer, Captain Jedrzej Mierzewsky.
Wages benchmarked against global peers
Speaking to maritime journalists after the signing, Comrade Bunu credited the outcome to sustained dialogue rather than industrial action, noting that the process was completed without a single protest or port shutdown. He said the union’s negotiating position rested on comparing Nigerian dockworkers’ pay with what counterparts earn at comparable terminals abroad, operating the same equipment and performing the same duties.
“We keep telling management that Africa is not where you come and get cheap labour, it is where you come and get quality labour,” Bunu said, adding that he had personally travelled to London to benchmark pay scales as part of the union’s ongoing wage advocacy.
He disclosed that the increases vary by category, some as high as 150 percent, others at 80 percent and 60 percent, spanning overtime, weekend and public holiday allowances, transport, feeding, utility, housing and hazard allowances, according to Bodunde.
Four months of negotiation
Mr Fubara Awanta, LFT’s General Manager for Government Relations and Security, described the talks as tense but ultimately productive, spanning more than four months of engagement between the two unions and terminal management. Awanta, who also midwifed the maiden CBA between the parties in 2024, said the new agreement reflects broader gains across the terminal’s workforce once implemented.
Bodunde noted that negotiations opened in February, building on the previous CBA signed with LFT in March 2024, and closing gaps left unaddressed in that earlier agreement. He urged workers to reciprocate management’s commitment as the terminal moves toward construction of Lekki Port’s Phase 2 expansion.
Bunu also signalled that a broader Dockworkers National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC) process, to be coordinated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), is expected to begin soon and could extend similar wage gains across other Nigerian port terminals.
Nigeria Watch: The Lifetime agreement lands as a rare good-news story on Nigerian port labour relations, a beat more often defined by pension disputes, casualisation grievances, and NPA retiree battles. That the deal was struck without a shutdown is itself notable in a sector where industrial action has periodically disrupted cargo flow at Apapa and Tin-Can.
But the real test that lies ahead is whether a 150 percent uplift at one privately-run terminal becomes the floor other operators are pressured to match once NIMASA’s promised NJIC process gets underway, or whether Lekki Freeport, still Nigeria’s newest and most capital-intensive port asset, remains the outlier it has been since inception.
NIMASA Trains 2,459 Cadets, Secures 150% Wage Rise for Nigerian Seafarers — Mobereola
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has declared seafarer welfare, safety and professional development as central priorities of its current agenda, with the agency’s Director-General, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, disclosing landmark gains in cadet training and earnings improvement as Nigeria marked the 2026 Day of the Seafarer in Lagos on Thursday.
Addressing maritime stakeholders at the event, Mobereola announced that NIMASA has trained 2,459 Nigerian cadets under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), with a significant number still undergoing training at maritime institutions across the world. The disclosure underlines the agency’s sustained push to build a pipeline of internationally competitive Nigerian seafarers capable of serving on vessels in the global merchant fleet.
The NIMASA chief also revealed a major breakthrough on seafarer remuneration. The National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC), he said, has formally adopted the wage scale endorsed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) into the conditions of service for Nigerian seafarers — producing a wage increase of more than 150 per cent. The development marks one of the most consequential improvements in Nigerian seafarer earnings in recent memory and directly aligns domestic conditions with internationally recognised standards.
Speaking to the 2026 theme, “Carrying World Trade, Carrying the Risk,” Mobereola underscored the outsized contribution of seafarers to global commerce, noting that more than 80 per cent of global trade by volume and over 70 per cent by value moves by sea, sustained by approximately two million seafarers manning the world’s merchant fleet. He stressed that beyond cargo movement, seafarers contend daily with unpredictable weather, security threats, geopolitical instability and prolonged family separation — risks that rarely receive sufficient public acknowledgement.
“Today, we stand in solidarity with the global maritime community to pay tribute to an extraordinary cadre of professionals whose dedication, courage and resilience form the bedrock of international trade and global prosperity,” he stated.
Mobereola said NIMASA’s commitment to seafarers goes beyond regulatory duty, framing it as both a moral obligation and a strategic investment in the sector’s long-term resilience. He pointed to ongoing work on Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 compliance as a mechanism for guaranteeing decent working conditions, alongside continued investment in certification and sea-time opportunities. He also called for broader collaboration across governments, maritime administrations, shipowners, training institutions and labour unions to build a maritime ecosystem that puts safety, dignity and professional excellence at its core.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, pledged the National Assembly’s continued legislative backing for policies aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s maritime sector and improving seafarer welfare. The senator stressed the need for expanded investment in maritime education, certification and professional development to sharpen the competitiveness of Nigerian seafarers in the international labour market.
The event brought together maritime regulators, industry operators, labour representatives and seafarers to mark the occasion.
Nigeria Watch
Thursday’s Day of the Seafarer celebrations carried a weight beyond ceremony. The twin announcements from NIMASA — 2,459 cadets in the NSDP pipeline and a 150 per cent wage increase secured through the NJIC’s adoption of ITF/ILO wage scales — represent concrete, measurable progress on two of the most persistent pressure points in Nigerian seafarer development: the quantity of trained personnel entering the workforce and the quality of conditions awaiting them.
The wage development deserves particular attention. For years, Nigerian seafarers working on vessels governed by ITF-negotiated collective bargaining agreements have operated under conditions where the gap between international wage benchmarks and actual domestic pay structures created both financial hardship and reputational friction for Nigeria’s maritime labour market. The formal adoption of the ITF/ILO scale into NJIC conditions of service is a structural correction, not merely a gesture — and it comes at a moment when the Strait of Hormuz crisis has dramatically highlighted the risk premium attached to seafaring, reinforcing the moral and commercial case for competitive pay.
For NIMASA, the NSDP remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s long-term seafarer supply strategy, and the 2,459 figure is a credible indicator of scale. However, the programme’s ultimate value will be measured not by enrolment numbers but by the rate at which trained cadets complete sea-time placements, obtain STCW certifications and gain employment on international vessels. The persistent challenge of securing sufficient shipboard berths for Nigerian cadets — particularly on vessels operated by foreign shipowners with no particular obligation to take Nigerian trainees — remains an area where NIMASA’s advocacy with the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and with international shipping organisations needs sustained attention.
Senator Eshinlokun-Sanni’s assurances of legislative support are timely. The National Assembly’s role in providing the fiscal and regulatory architecture for seafarer development — through the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, through port concession frameworks that incentivise indigenous vessel ownership and through oversight of NIMASA’s budget — is consequential and often underappreciated in public discourse. That a Senate committee chair chose to appear at a seafarers’ day event and commit to specific legislative priorities is a positive signal, though stakeholders will watch for legislative follow-through on maritime education funding and MLC implementation in the months ahead.
Nigeria’s blue economy ambitions cannot be realised without a competitive, well-paid and professionally respected seafarer workforce. Thursday’s celebrations offered evidence that the building blocks are being assembled — slowly, but with increasing intentionality.
Waterways News | www.waterwaysnews.ng
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