The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has urged the Federal Government to criminalise casualisation of workers in the country and send any employer who engages in it to jail.
The MWUN President-General, Comrade Abdulwaheed Adewale Adeyanju, made the call  in his opening speech at the opening ceremony of the union’s annual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Lagos, last Friday.
He described casualisation as a disease inimical to the well-being of workers in the country.
“Unfortunately, it has become endemic in Nigeria’s system, almost becoming the norm”, he said.
Adeyanju said “Casualisation in whatever guise is evil and diminishes the rights of working people. We call on the government to outlaw and forbid the use of workers as casuals, while prescribing jail terms for any one found practicing casualisation”.
The union also appealed to the Federal Government to order the contractors handling the dredging of Calabar Port back to site, saying the port could serve as an alternative to the already congested Lagos ports.
He chastised the Federal Government for its failure to dredge the Calabar Port, noting that the situation has denied members of the union in Calabar the opportunity of employment.
“We feel confused in reports reaching us which point to the fact that decades after the award of a contract to dredge the Calabar Port, literally nothing has been done till date.
“This is not only unfair to our members in Calabar Port who have been consistently denied of employment opportunities, but also in opposite to government’s avowal to create work for its citizenry .
“We are, therefore, strongly calling on the Federal Government to force the contractors to site and conclude the dredging of Calabar Port urgently”, Adeyanju said.
He also sought a synergy with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to rid the maritime sector of casualisation.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos