MAN will not compromise quality of cadets —Rector

RECTOR of Nigeria’s Premier Maritime Institution, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, (MAN) Oron, Commodore Duja Effedua, has pledged to transform the institution into one of the best in the world.

The rector, who spoke to newsmen, said, “Under my watch the emphasis would be quality, quality, quality. To achieve this, we are going to turn the institution into a centre of excellence in such a manner that every cadet of the Academy would be a worthy ambassador of this great country. The era of mass production of half baked cadets is over. We are going to improve on the basic infrastructure needed for the Academy.”

On the spate of abandoned projects in the Academy, Effedua revealed that only projects that were relevant to the cadets would receive attention. He asked rhetorically; “For instance, what are we doing with an Olympic size swimming pool? For God’s sake, we are a training institution, and I stand to be corrected that we don’t need an Olympic size swimming at MAN, Oron,” he said.

The tough talking Rector told those who saw the 40-year old institution as a contract awarding academy to look elsewhere.

“I am not going to award any new contracts, excepts they are extremely important. We have a backlog of abandoned and uncompleted projects. My regime would not wish to be distracted by pressure from stakeholders who see MAN, Oron as a cash cow,” he added.

Effedua also disclosed that the Academy have lined up a series of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with relevant agencies in the maritime and Oil and Gas sectors, including the Bonny NLNG and that the institution would bounce back to life in the New Year.