Senate urges MAN to bridge Nigeria’s seafaring deficit gap

The Senate has urged the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) to continue to bridge the deficit gap still noticeable in Nigeria’s seafaring manpower.

This was disclosed on Monday by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Maritime Transport, Senator Danjuma Goje when 235 cadets graduated from the Maritime Academy during the 2020 Cadets Graduation Ceremony, which held in Oron, Akwa Ibom State.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony which was held inside the Rotimi Amaechi Conference Centre inside the Academy, Senator Danjuma Goje who was represented by Senator Akon Eyakenyi lauded the efforts of the management of the academy for the historic event which is coming two years after the inaugural passing out parade held in 2018.

According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Maritime Transport, “I salute the graduating cadets on their passing out parade today. The Nigerian Senate congratulates the Academy on this epoch-making event. Maritime administration and learning are critical to the economy of Nigeria because as an import-dependent nation, over 90 percent of our trade, both import and export, is through the sea.

“Maritime trade is undertaking by professionals (seafarers) who must undergo prescribed courses of training in line with standards set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The Maritime Academy was therefore established in 1977 to ensure Nigeria benefits from maritime trading through the production of maritime professionals. Over the past few years, the Maritime Academy has been living the Nigerian dream.

“However, despite the Academy’s effort at producing seafarers, Nigeria still has a huge deficit gap in terms of seafaring manpower. Therefore, there is the need to ensure greater numbers of well-trained professionals are churned out as seafarers in the country without compromising quality and standards.”

Also speaking during the programme, the Chief of Naval Staff who was represented by the Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral D.A. Adeniran, the Naval Chief revealed that the Navy will be increasing it’s collaboration with the academy in the coming months.

In his presentation, the Rector of the academy, Duja Effedua urged the graduating cadets to brace for the challenges ahead. In his words, “In life, nothing comes easy.

“You will see challenges as you go out there, face them and keep trying until you overcome the challenge.

“When I was appointed as rector, I was scared because the rot I saw on campus was challenging. However, I was lucky that I was co-opted into the IMC, and later the Governing Council came on board, and together, we have been able to overcome.

“Today, all our classes are smart teaching classes. All our students have their own personal laptops. We have Master Mariners in our ranks as lecturers, including foreign Master Mariners and our simulator is the latest in the sub-region. We did all this just because we blocked all revenue leakages, we didn’t get money from outside.”

The highlight of the event witnessed the offer of automatic employment by Starzs Investment Group to the Best Overall Graduating Student, Adigun Anthony Oluwaseun of School of Marine Engineering, who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State.

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