The Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Commodore Duja Effedua (rtd) has accused the President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), Captain Tajudeen Alao, of propagating falsehood concerning the academy’s Nautical school. This is even as the academy insisted that aged Master Mariners, who are contract staff, cannot head the academy’s Nautical school.
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Speaking recently to select 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 Organisation (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 almost 80 years. After his retirement, we ran a check for a successor but discovered that the youngest Master Mariner left in the school was almost 75 years old. Aside being too old, all the master mariners left were contract staff, and not permanent workers of the academy.
“To avoid mistakes made in the past where contractors where appointed directors of schools in the academy, we decided not to make any of the aged master mariners 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. Adeyanju does not teach any of the three core courses in the Nautical school as alleged by Captain Alao.
“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.
“When we wrote to NAMM, requesting for younger lecturers, their President, Captain Alao, preferred to do business with us with a private firm, instead of the association. We are still waiting for him to do business with us through the NAMM, which is why we have not gone outside the country to seek younger lecturers. If he denies, we will go public with the name of the private firm.
“Most of these aged master mariners hardly come to work due to age-related problems. And yet Captain Alao went ahead to make such remarks without consulting with the academy.”
When contacted, Captain Tajdeen Alao insisted that a situation where a graduate of Geography is heading the Nautical Science in MAN, Oron, leaves much to be desired. In his words, “Captain Balogun is not 70 years old yet, maybe 68 years of age. The older and experienced a master mariner is, the best for lecturing. Yes, I said it is wrong for a Geographer to be the head of the Nautical school, and I still stand by my statement.”