FERDINAND Ferreira describes himself as the Dean of Docksford, having received his education at the University of Woodford Square and spending most of his professional life on the Port of Spain dock during his 33 years in public service.
In reality, Ferreira, "Ferdie" as most friends and others know him, boasts an unusual feat of having received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) last year; unusual, as he confidently acknowledges, because he never received a formal education, yet became a close friend and adviser to none other than the first prime minister of TT, Dr Eric Williams, and successive leaders of the People’s National Movement.
The former dock worker, a self-taught political commentator, and columnist will release his second major publication Portraits of a Patriot next week.
Ferreira was born of an “Afro-Potogee” father and Barbadian mother, and the great-grandson of an African slave — someone who was poor and considered second class by the white elite. He takes after his father in several ways, not least in his fondness for alcohol.
Even at 90, Ferreira is as much a limer as many half his age.
Having started as a simple port worker, running errands, Ferreira retired after being promoted to deputy manager and former commissioner at the Port Authority, and managing director at the Port & Maritime Services. He was a national officer of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union, playing the role of a manager at the dock but also someone invested in the interests of his workers.
Ferreira looks back on his career with gratification, believing he held every one of PNM’s political leaders to account – even as a founding member of the party – whether through direct criticism or by means of his thousands of letters submitted to various national newspapers for over six decades.
[caption id="attachment_939445" align="alignnone" width="768"] Ferdinand "Ferdie" Ferreira during an appearance at a Parliament committee. -[/caption]
Although he shared dinner with Williams on countless occasions and advised him regularly, that didn’t stop him from being barred from the party and Balisier House in 1980. Ferreira readily acknowledges that the party is not without fault, especially today.
A step into Ferreira’s Blue Range, Diego Martin home, which he bought at a bargain in the 1980s, speaks volumes about his mindset.
One’s eyes are immediately drawn to a contrasting assortment of books on his living room table, including a biography of China Communist Party leader and President Xi Jinping, atop a copy of a Time magazine featuring former US president Barack Obama on the cover and perhaps most surprisingly a book on South African business magnate Elon Musk; surprising because Musk is famous for his technologically advanced and innovative products, and Ferreira says he’s not exactly computer literate.
He doesn’t write as much as he used to but when he does, he does so with pen and paper for someone else to type up before sending to a newspape
