From right: Representative of the Minister of Transport and Director Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transport, Umar Galadanchi, the Executive Director Operations NIMASA, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, the rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Commodore Duja Effedua and a Maritime Stakeholder at the 2018 passing out parade and graduating ceremony of the institution in Oron at the weekend.

BY FRANCIS EZEM

The Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria MAN, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Commodore Duja Effedua has announced that the academy has entered into partnership with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA with a view to ensuring human capacity development in the maritime industry.

Under the partnership, the agency would fund the procurement of modern training facilities to ensure that the academy conforms to internationally acceptable specifications to attain compliance with the International Convention on Standards of Training and Watch-keeping for Seafarers STCW 1978, as amended in 2010 of the International Maritime Organisation IMO.

Commodore Effedua who made this disclosure in Oron at the weekend during the 2018 passing out parade and graduation ceremony of the institution, noted that fully equipped multimedia classrooms with fire training grounds and custom purpose built swimming pool as well as realistic simulation environment are some of the new innovations the new management team of the academy and NIMASA are working on.

“We have restructured, we have implemented, we have set out milestones and have got 60 per cent right. Presently we are sourcing for qualified lecturers home and abroad. We are also remodeling the classrooms, hostels as well as the libraries and I am glad to announce that the management of NIMASA has promised to be with us all the way” The rector said.

It was also gathered that a new simulation centre which NIMASA has commenced the process of equipping to international training standards and is currently under construction.

“Dr. Dakuku Peteraide, the Director General of NIMASA, is such a person who matches his words with action. NIMASA has commenced the process of acquiring a simulator among other equipment for training of our cadets to ensure that Certificates of Competencies CoCs are issued to them to enable them attain global recognition. I believe that before the end of the 2019 academic session, we shall be one of the best maritime academies in Africa”, Effedua said emphatically.

Meanwhile, in a goodwill message the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside assured students and stakeholders of the agency’s commitment to capacity development not only in the academy but also in the maritime industry as a whole.

The NIMASA DG who was represented by the agency’s Executive Director Operations Engr. Rotimi Fashakin commended the rector and his team for the judicious utilisation of funds disbursed to MAN Oron by NIMASA with an assurance that NIMASA will work with relevant national and international bodies to ensure MAN Oron attains its rightful place among maritime training institutions globally.

“Since simulators are not acquired off the shelf, the managements of NIMASA and MAN Oron have commenced the process of building one to specification for the simulation centre here. Our goal is to ensure that Man Oron attracts not only Nigerians, but also international students so we can completely domesticate maritime trainings here in Nigeria”, he said.

A total of 613 graduates made up of 325 Marine Engineers, 142 Nautical Scientists and 146 Maritime Transport Engineers were awarded Diploma Certificates at various levels.

The MAN Oron is Nigeria’s premier maritime institution, charged with the responsibility of training all Level of manpower to man Merchant Navy Ships, Ports, Maritime Engineering Workshops, Pilotage, Shipyards and other Marine related industries.

The Academy is listed in the International Maritime Organisation’s white list of institutions that have fully complied with the STCW 1978 Convention, as amended in 2010.

NIMASA by law is responsible for funding the institution by providing per cent of its revenue to MAN Oron. Following the need to upgrade the Institution as well as the NIMASA Management’s policy of ensuring that the sector does not suffer from the dearth of trained and certified seafarers the agency is willing to go beyond its statutory funding of the institution in order to ensure certificates issued by the MAN Oron are of international repute.