Maritime Labour and Trade Union
Workers and Owners Must Learn to Work Together — Comrade Larry Charts Bold Course for Lagos Waterways
Workers and Owners Must Learn to Work Together — Comrade Larry Charts Bold Course for Lagos Waterways
In an exclusive interview with Waterways News, the newly elected Secretary of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Osaweren O. Larry, opens up on the state of Nigeria’s inland waterways, the urgent need for a
unified approach between workers’ unions and boat owners’ associations, and his vision for a safer, more prosperous sector.
Interview conducted by Oghenewoke Onoriode, Waterways News Reporter | Lagos | March 9, 2026
Nigeria is a nation blessed with one of the most extensive inland waterway networks on the African continent — over 10,000 kilometres of rivers, creeks, lagoons, and intra-coastal waters that
thread through 28 of the country’s 36 states. Yet, for decades, this vast blue infrastructure has remained an underperforming asset, weighed down by regulatory uncertainty, decaying jetties, safety crises, and the chronic misalignment between those who own the boats and those who operate them.
In Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria and home to one of the busiest inland waterway systems in West Africa, that misalignment is felt most acutely. A landmark Supreme Court ruling of January 5, 2024, declared the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) the sole lawful regulator of inland waterways in Nigeria.
For workers and operators already
navigating daily uncertainty, the question is no longer just who rules the water, but whether the sector’s own internal stakeholders could unite to seize the moment.
It is into this charged environment that Comrade Osaweren O. Larry has stepped in as the newly elected Secretary of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), one of the most strategically important district-level positions in the labour union. Oghenewoke Onoriode of Waterways News, sat down with him for an in-depth conversation about the state of the sector, the critical distinctions and intersections between workers’ unions and boat owners’ associations, and the district agenda for the years ahead, under the leadership of the newly elected chairman, Comrade Patrick Owolabi Omotayo.
THE INTERVIEW
Q: Congratulations on your election, Comrade Larry. For the benefit of our readers, what exactly is the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District, and what role does the Secretary play within the structure of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria?
A: Thank you very much. First, I would want to say, I am responding in my capacity as the secretary of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District, and by this, I want to appreciate the members of the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District who placed their confidence in me, particularly the district chairman Comrade Omotayo Owolabi. The district is one of the key units within the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, specifically under the waterway transport wing. Our district covers commercial boat operators, the Skippers who drive the boats, the deckhands, and all maritime workers employed by private boat owners and commercial ferry operators across the Lagos waterway corridor — from Badagry in the west to Ikorodu in the east, and the various creek routes in between. The Secretary, in our structure, is the
administrative heartbeat of the district. I handle all correspondences, maintain the register of members, coordinate with the branch leadership at the national level, document resolutions, and ensure that decisions taken in the interest of our workers are properly communicated and
implemented. It sounds administrative, but in practice it is a deeply an activist role. You are managing grievances, pushing policies, and ensuring the union remains relevant to every deckhand and boat driver on the water.
“The waterway is our workplace, and like every workplace, it must be safe, regulated, and dignified. That is the non-negotiable starting point.”
Q: Nigeria’s inland waterways sector has been described as a sleeping giant. What is your honest assessment of where we are today, particularly in Lagos?
A: That metaphor is apt, but I would add that it is a giant that is beginning to stand. For too long, we treated water transport as the poor cousin of road transport. Lagos has approximately 16 percent of its land mass covered by lagoons, creeks and other water bodies — that is an extraordinary gift. NIWA’s own data puts Nigeria’s waterway network at over 10,000 kilometres. And yet, if you compare investment in our roads versus investment in our waterways, the disparity is embarrassing. What we are seeing now is a slow awakening. The €410 million Omi Eko electric ferry project, which is a Lagos State initiative, signals that someone, somewhere, understands the potential. NIWA’s proposal to dredge 2,000 kilometres of navigable waterways and complete the Lokoja Inland Port in Lokoja is another positive signal. But
these are still largely policy conversations. On the ground, the average boat worker in Lagos is still
operating in an environment with poor jetty infrastructure, inadequate safety equipment, and wages that have not kept pace with the cost of living since the fuel subsidy removal. That is the reality we must confront as union officers
Q: The Supreme Court’s January 2024 ruling that NIWA is the exclusive regulator of inland waterways, effectively nullifying key provisions of the LASWA Law, was a major legal
development. How has that ruling impacted workers on the Lagos waterways?
A: It was a landmark ruling, and in the long run, it should be positive. For years, Lagos boat operators — both owners and workers — were subjected to double taxation. You had NIWA collecting levies, and LASWA collecting levies, and both claiming authority to license and regulate. The confusion was maddening. The Supreme Court resolved that inland waterways are on the exclusive legislative list, meaning only the National Assembly has authority to legislate on the matter. NIWA, established by an Act of the National Assembly, is therefore the lawful authority. But here is the complication: LASWA had become operationally entrenched. LASWA trained personnel, constructed approximately 28 active jetties, terminal management, and a functional enforcement presence. You cannot simply switch off that institutional infrastructure overnight. What we need now is a seamless transition and cooperation between the two bodies — the federal and the state — so that services do not collapse while the legal dust settles. Workers are caught in the middle when agencies are fighting over jurisdiction. Our position in the union is clear: whichever authority is legally in charge must protect the welfare and safety of those who work on the water.
“Double taxation was killing operators. You had two government agencies demanding money, and workers were the ones absorbing the cost.”
Q: There is often confusion, even among people in the sector, about the distinct roles of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria and organisations like the Associations of Boat Owners. Can you clearly explain the difference?
A: This is one of the most important questions you can ask, and I am glad you raised it. These organisations serve fundamentally different constituencies, and confusing them creates real problems. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria is a trade union. We represent workers — the employees in the maritime sector. Our members are the boat drivers, deckhands, captains of
commercial boats, ticketing staff, jetty workers, and all categories of employees in inland water transportation. We are affiliated to the Nigeria Labour Congress. Our mandate is to protect the rights,
wages, working conditions, and welfare of these workers. We negotiate collective bargaining agreements on their behalf. We push for safety standards because our members also lose their lives when a boat capsizes. We advocate for training and certification because our members are the ones who face criminal liability when accidents happen due to lack of skill. Boat owners’ associations represent the interests of the boat owners themselves. These are business owners. They own the vessels. Their primary concerns are craft licensing, levies, operational permits, profitability, and the
regulatory environment that affects their business. They are not workers; they are employers. Now, here is where it gets nuanced. In Lagos and many other states, you have what I call the ‘owner-operator’ — a person who owns one or two boats and also drives or manages them personally. In that situation, the same individual wears both hats. But the organisational roles must remain distinct.
The union protects the worker. The associations advocate for the boat owners When these get conflated, workers end up with no effective voice, because business interests will always dominate when the two are merged.
Q: So what happens in practice when the interests of boat owners and boat workers come into conflict?
A: It happens regularly. The most common conflict is over wages and work conditions. A boat owner wants to maximise trips per day to maximise revenue. He may resist minimum rest periods for boat drivers. He may resist paying for life jackets and safety equipment, preferring to pass that cost to
workers. He may hire unlicensed hands at lower wages to cut costs. The union’s job is to say no. There are minimum standards. There are negotiated wage floors. There are safety requirements that cannot be waived for profit. Another area of conflict is the classification of workers. Some boat owners try to classify boat drivers as ‘independent contractors’ rather than employees, specifically to avoid paying them benefits and union dues. We have had to fight these reclassifications in several districts. The union is the institutional counterweight to these practices. That is why our existence is not just about labour rights in the abstract. It is about the daily dignity of the man who starts that engine at 5am in the morning so that Lagos commuters can get to work.
“The boat owner owns the vessel. The worker powers it. Both are essential — but only one of them wakes up worrying about wages and safety. That is who the union exists for.”
Q: Safety on Lagos waterways remains a serious concern. Boat accidents, often deadly, continue to occur. What is the union’s position on this, and what systemic changes are needed?
A: This keeps me awake at night. Nigeria’s inland waterways are accident prone. The causes are well understood: overloaded boats, night-time operations without proper lighting, engine failures due to lack of maintenance, operators without proper training or certification, the absence of search and rescue infrastructure, and of course, the scourge of water hyacinth — that invasive plant that has blocked ferry terminals, stalled boats mid-journey, and turned our waterways into obstacle courses. What happened at Christmas 2024, when passengers were stranded at the Ikorodu Ferry Terminal because of water hyacinth blocking the waterway — that is not an isolated incident. It is a systemic failure. The union’s position is that safety cannot be left to individual boat owners. It must be a regulatory floor enforced by NIWA, and workers must be trained and empowered to refuse to operate unsafe vessels without fear of losing their jobs. Currently, a boat driver who refuses to operate an overloaded boat risks dismissal. We need whistleblower protections for maritime workers who raise safety alarms. We need mandatory licensing and certification for all operators. We need NIWA to deploy more water marshals, and we need the proposed Waterways Code to be aggressively enforced.
Q: The Lagos State Government has announced the phase-out of banana boats in favour of larger vessels like the Omi Bus, and there is the ambitious Omi Eko electric ferry project. What is the union’s stance on these modernisation plans?
A: We support modernisation, but modernisation must not come at the cost of existing workers. If you phase out banana boats, and those boats employ thousands of engine drivers, deckhands, and operators, you must have a plan for those workers. The government says licensed operators will be able to bid for Omi Bus concessions. That is good. But bidding requires capital, and most of our
members are workers, not owners. What we are demanding is that any modernisation programme include a comprehensive retraining and reskilling scheme for existing waterway workers,
so that the engine driver of a banana boat becomes a certified operator of an electric ferry rather than being a casualty of modernization
The Omi Eko electric ferry project, supported by the EU, the French
Development Agency, and European Investment Bank to the tune of €410 million, is potentially transformative. It promises 75 electric ferries, 25 modernised terminals with digital payment systems and charging infrastructure, and integration with road and rail. But if the jobs created by this project are filled by new hires from outside the existing workforce, we will have a social crisis on our hands. We are engaging with the relevant authorities now to ensure that retraining provisions are built into the project design.
“Modernisation is welcome. But progress that leaves workers behind is not progress — it is just another form of exploitation wearing a new uniform.”
Q: What is your message to boat owners’ associations about the kind of relationship you want to build with them going forward?
A: My message is this: We are not adversaries. The union and the boat owners’ associations must understand that a thriving waterway sector benefits everyone — workers and owners alike. What kills the sector is instability, unsafe operations, regulatory chaos, and a workforce that is exhausted, underpaid, and unprotected. When a boat capsizes because the engine driver was overworked and undertrained, the owner loses a vessel, the operator faces criminal charges, the passengers lose
their lives, and the entire route loses ridership. The costs of poor labour relations are paid by everyone. We want to build structured dialogue channels between our district and the operators’
associations. We want to develop a joint safety charter that both the union and the associations sign onto — minimum standards of vessel maintenance, maximum passenger loads, mandatory rest periods for operators, and insurance coverage for workers. We can advocate together to NIWA for better jetty infrastructure, better lighting on night routes, faster water hyacinth clearance. On these issues, the workers and the boat owners have identical interests. It is only when the owners try to extract profit by exploiting workers that we become adversaries. Choose not to exploit us, and we become your strongest partners.
Q: Nigeria’s National Assembly currently has before it the NIWA Act Repeal and
Reenactment Bill 2025. What is the union’s position on this legislation?
A: We are watching it very closely. The bill seeks to address some of the gaps in the existing NIWA framework — particularly around jurisdictional conflicts between federal and state authorities, and the limited participation of the private sector. Both of these are legitimate concerns. However, our specific interest as a union is in ensuring that any new legislation contains robust provisions for labour rights in the waterways sector. The current NIWA Act is largely operational and regulatory in focus; it does not adequately address the welfare of workers employed in the sector. We want the new legislation
to include clear provisions on minimum safety standards for workers, the right of workers to organise and collectively bargain, mandatory insurance and compensation frameworks for accidents, and the recognition of the union as a formal stakeholder in regulatory processes. We will be making formal submissions to the National Assembly on these points. No law that governs our waterways should be enacted without the voice of the people who work on the waters.
Q: Finally, Comrade Larry — what is your personal vision for the Lagos Commercial Private Boat District in the next four years, and what would success look like to you?
A: Success, for me, is very specific. It looks like a boat driver in Lagos who goes to work every morning knowing that his boat is certified safe, that he has a union card that guarantees him a fair
wage, that if he is injured on the water there is an insurance mechanism to support him, and that he can come home to his family at the end of the day. It looks like a sector where boat owners and operators cooperate professionally rather than through exploitation. It looks like jetties that are not crumbling, waterways that are free of hyacinth, and routes that are lit at night. It looks like young Nigerians who see inland water transportation as a respectable, rewarding career — not a choice of last resort. Within the district, I want to grow our membership, improve our training programmes in partnership with the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and other bodies, and establish a welfare fund for
members who fall on hard times. I want our district to be a model of what an active, engaged, and member-driven union looks like in the Nigerian maritime space. The water is our livelihood. We will not rest until it is also our dignity.
— END OF INTERVIEW —© 2026
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