Stakeholders laud MAN, ask FG to stop sending cadets abroad

Maritime stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to stop sending cadets to foreign training institutions at a very expensive cost, stating that currently, facilities at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) are the best in the world.

Recall that the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) sends hundreds of cadets to foreign training institutions abroad under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

Speaking on Friday during the 2021 Graduation Ceremony of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, the stakeholders marvelled at development at the Academy, saying it’s no longer economically feasible for the government to keep spending taxpayers money sending cadets abroad when the best training equipment are here in Nigeria.

According to the President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), Captain Tajudeen Alao, “I was here last year and though I had seen it all, only to get here this year and see something different. I salute the sagacity of the leadership of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria.

“Permit me to say, with all due respect, there is no longer any basis to send cadets abroad under the NSDP programme anymore because Nigeria now has an Academy of international repute that we can all be proud of.

“What Nigeria needs right now is more synergy between the Maritime Administration and the Maritime Academy. The Maritime Administration job is to examine the cadets and award certificates so that they can get jobs while the Maritime Academy is to train the cadets and prepare them for their examinations. At present, I have not seen that synergy. If the Rector has to plead to be given the statutory five percent which is even no longer sufficient, then the nation needs more synergy between the Maritime Administration and the Maritime Academy.

“For the Cadets, this is a landmark step as you go into another phase of your life. The industry is tough, going to sea is very challenging, but I pray that as your journey is rough, so shall your success be higher.”

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the event and President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Barrister Mfon Usoro said that the cadets have no excuse to fail having being trained with the best equipment and training environment that is currently available in the African continent.

In the words of the CILT President, “The Maritime Academy of Nigeria is a great institution of learning. Its current equipment and facilities are second to none in the African continent. Cadets, you have no excuse to fail. If the Academy could produce great men and women in the past, who rose to the top of their careers when the facilities here were moribund, then you have no excuse given the exceptional state of facilities and equipment that you were trained under.

“Two weeks ago, during a retreat organized by the House Committee on Transport, I had to correct an erroneous impression raised by somebody that the IMO does not recognize the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. In the first instance, I said that the IMO does not have that function of certifying maritime academies or institutions of learning of member states. Secondly, I said that graduates of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria over the years have held positions of relevance in different organizations globally.

“As I drove into the Academy this morning, I was amazed at what I was seeing. What I saw didn’t look like the Academy that we all used to know. For me, the graduates of this Academy at this point in time when we have the best facilities and equipment in place, have no excuse for failure.”

At the 2021 Graduation ceremony of the Academy, 219 cadets graduated with different honours in Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND.

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