President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Prince Adewale Adeyanju has disclosed that the Federal Government would soon pay the disengaged seafarers their pension.

This is in line with the Federal Government and MWUN concluded verification of the disengaged seafarers of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), after 28-years of liquidation of the national carrier over their unpaid benefits.

Prince Adeyanju discloded this on Friday at the Association of Maritime Journalist of Nigeria (AMJON) training workshop held in collaboration with the School of Eloquence at the school’s premises in Ikoyi Lagos, last Friday.

The PG who was represented by the Deputy President General of MWUN, Comrade Harry Tonye; stated that the union will leave no stone unUnUnturned to ensure that the disengaged seafarers get their due pension. He did not however, give the exact date when the aged seafarers will receive their pensions.

Comrade Adeyanju took the journalists on the rudiments of the Union’s operations and its duties to the workers, adding that the Nigerian port industry has continue to stabilized because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement strategy put in place to ensure that workers are paid their wages.

He disclosed that the agreement is reviewed every two years. “The good thing about it is that if there is anything that was not captured in the agreement, one can patiently wait for the next two years for it to be addressed,” he said.

Also speaking at the training, the Dean of School of Eloquence, Mr. Ubong Essien tasked journalists to explore and unearth potentials in the Marine and Blue Economy in their reportage.

Essien , who was a former Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the immediate past Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Bashir Jamoh , called on the media practitioners to create wealth for themselves through effective and quality reportage about the Marine and Blue Economy , saying that the sector was under-reported by journalists.

Speaking further on the multiple advantages of the sector, the media mogul reiterated that the maritime industry is not limited to the ocean or ships, maintaining that the blue economy is vast to the extent that a journalist can choose to specialize on a segment and get the desired relevancy to create wealth.

According to him, journalists can specialise on any given sub sector within the industry, improve on it and create wealth from it.

While commending AMJON for the innovation, the Dean stressed that the school is open for partnership in the area of capacity building for members adding that journalists must equip themselves with modern day technologies like use of social media, Artificial Intelligence, Google etc to create the needed awareness for the Marine and Blue Economy growth.

He further described journalism and the legal practitioners as noble professions which in turn has the capacity to enlighten the public about new innovations, thus the professionals must be strategic while engaging critical stakeholders for nation building and economic development.

He also appealed to members of the association to prioritize capacity building as a veritable tool to gain more knowledge.

Describing”knowledge as power”, Essien stated that training and retraining of members of AMJON is a clear indication of wealth creation urging them not to relent in pursuit of academic abilities and upscaling of their knowledge base.

Resource personnel From the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeriaia (MWUN) and School of Eloquence engaged journalists on the right terminology on their reportage and publications in line with ethics of the profession.

Among the team of MWUN at the training were, Comrade Harry Tonye , Head of Media MWUN, Comrade Oniha Odigie; Comrade Kennedy Ikemefuna.

The National Public Relations Officer (NPRO), Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada was represented by the Customs Public Relations Officer, Lagos Free Zone, Superintendent of Customs Abdullahi Lagos.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) under the leadership of Comrade (Prince) Dr. Adewale Adeyanju, fnli, HFCPSP, celebrates with Muslim faithful across the world on the occasion of Eid Mubarak which is celebrated today in Nigeria and across the six continents of the universe.

Dr. Adeyanju who is a devoted Muslim has enjoined his Muslim brothers and sisters in the country to reflect on the teachings of Prophet Mohammed ( Peace Unto Him) and the faithfulness of Prophet Ibrahim as recorded in the Holy Quran especially at this period of the Eid Mubarak.

The foremost maritime labour leader, Prince Adeyanju also admonished Muslims across the world to be of good cheers always, be peaceful expressing the unconditional love of the Almighty Allah, while also reminding them that this is the period to show much love and affection towards one another irrespective of religion, tribe, descent or political affiliation.

He prayed for the country for peaceful coexistence and tolerance amongst every citizens of the country and across the world, stressing that it’s only when the country and the world at large is peaceful that we can collectively make a meaningful progress and development and so, we must all live together, work together with the fear of the Almighty Allah, there on, the world would be a better place for us all.

He thanked all Muslims in the country for their peaceful understanding and asked for more religious tolerance, especially at this period of our country’s political sojourn.

Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko and the Port Managers of Tin Can Island and Lagos Ports Complex have received Excellent Awards for trade facilitation in recognition of efforts made to decongest the Apapa-Oshodi axis of the port access road.

The award which was presented to them at the fourth JournalNG Port Industry Town Hall meeting specially recognised the invaluable contributions of Sylvester Othuke Egede, Port Manager of Tin Can Port and Charlesq Okaga, Port Manager of Apapa Port Complex in clearing the road that has been impassable by vehicles for 13 years.

The Apapa port traffic challenge had defied the very many attempts at solving it over the years as several federal government and Lagos State task forces failed to dislodge the very many extortionists and other criminal elements that entrenched themselves along the corridor

Organiser of the award and Publisher of JournalNG, Ismail Aniemu said the trio in conjunction with the Lagos State JournalNGovernment showed unprecedented commitment and defied resistance from perpetrators of illegalities along the corridor leading to Nigeria’s two largest ports.

He commended the awardees for what he called unprecedented selflessness as they worked round the clock to gain the support of government and private sector stakeholders including haulage operators before the feat was achieved

According to him, they deployed a combination of experience and intelligence with the support of law enforcement agencies to ensure that the road becomes one of Nigeria’s hitch free transit zone for trucks going in and out of the port for import and export activities

Aniemu added that the ETO electronic call up system for trucks has been made more effective with the value adding free flow of traffic devoid of trucks parking along the roads to impede movements along the corridor.