FG seeks better training equipments for seafarers in Nigeria

THE Federal government has moved to equip the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron, in a bid to improve on the quality of seafarers that would operate on the nation’s waterways.

Speaking at the Maritime Academy Oron on Monday after commissioning many projects, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi stated that, Nigeria was losing huge revenue from the maritime sector due to lack of equipment and ill-trained personnel.

Amaechi lamented that the Academy through the key to the development of the maritime sector in Nigeria has experienced touted growth which has also affected the revenue that the country would have being harnessing from the sector.

The Minister commended the work done so far by the current Rector of the Academy, however emphasised that, ‘the second phase of the report which you need to implement is the purchase of equipment, it is like Nigerian Universities, you have a bachelors of science degree in engineering, and you never met an equipment before, you can not fabricate a car engine, you don’t know what the car engine looks like, but if they ask you, you have a BSc in engineering.

ALSO READ: FG repositioning maritime industry to better Nigeria’s economy —SGF

“Like this student now, they look smart in their uniform, but if you ask them technical questions that originate from maritime, they would not be able to answer.”

He lamented further that, “I think is it because the test them and realised these people are not equipped, they just ignore them. How many of you, your certificate are recognised outside Nigeria” he questioned.

The Minister said, “recognition is being able to compete with Egypt, Ghana and other nations. It is Philippine! What they do is to export seafarers to your country, that is their economy, they export seafarers globally. We can’t even train for our own maritime industry.”

Amaechi noted that, “our maritime industry is extremely weak, there are so many countries that are surviving on maritime, not on oil, everybody is focused on oil here and my prayers is that, one day, this oil should be finished so that we can begin to look inside and see how to grow the economy of our country,” he stated.

In his welcome address, the Rector of Maritime Academy, Commodore Duja Emma Effedua said the Academy has ordered for simulators from India and is expecting to take delivery of the equipment before the end of the year.

“But before then, we will send our staff to India to be trained where this equipment is being produced” adding that when the equipment arrives, “we would have people who will operate and maintain the simulators,” he stated.