The Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Commodore Duja Effedua (rtd) has accused the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) of propagating falsehood concerning the academy.
Speaking on Monday to selected maritime journalists in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Commodore Effedua lambasted the NAMM leadership, labelling the recent outburst of its President, Captain Tajudeen Alao as ‘irresponsible’.
According to Commodore Effedua, “It is irresponsible for Captain Tajudeen Alao to make false remarks about MAN, Oron at this time when the country, through the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), is making efforts to get us back into the Category ‘C’ of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It is very unpatriotic and uncharitable that a man occupying such exalted position is making baseless and unverified remarks about the country’s maritime academy.
“On allegations that a geographer is teaching Nautical Science in the Academy, it is not true. The geographer in question is a Doctorate degree holder who has been in this Academy for over 18 years teaching meteorology.
“In the Nautical School of the Academy, the last Director, Captain Nponu retired at the age of almost 80years. After his retirement, we ran a check for a successor but discovered that the youngest Master Mariner left in the School was almost 75years old. Aside from being too old, all the Master Mariners left were contract staff and not permanent workers of the Academy.
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“To avoid mistakes made in the past where contractors were appointed Directors of Schools in the Academy, we decided not to make any of the aged Master Mariners as Director of the Nautical School. So we temporarily appointed Doctor Adeyanju, who is the most senior academic staff in the Nautical School as Director.
“Because Doctor Adeyanju is not a Master Mariner, he was mandated to temporarily cover the gap administratively and not technically. As I speak, we still have five Master Mariners in that School, and the youngest is about 75years old.
“Doctor Adeyanju has never taught Seamanship and Navigation, which are the core subjects in the Nautical School of the Academy. He has only been handling peripheral courses like Meteorology, which he is very competent to handle since he has a PhD in it.
“We have approached the Master Mariners Association, that is NAMM, four times in the past for younger Master Mariners as lecturers, but we have not received any response from them till date. NAMM has refused to accede to our request for younger lecturers because their aged members in the Academy feel threatened that they will be replaced if we succeed in getting younger Master Mariners.
“Most of these aged Master Mariners hardly come to work due to age-related problems. And yet Capt. Alao went ahead to make such remarks without consulting with the Academy. It is very irresponsible of him.”
It would be recalled that Capt. Alao, while speaking to maritime journalists in Lagos recently, disclosed that a situation where a graduate of geography is teaching a course like Nautical Science in MAN, Oron leaves much to be desired. He then called on NIMASA to carry out an audit exercise on the academic staff of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron.
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