Chief Eugene Nweke (President NAGAFF)
Chief Eugene Nweke (President NAGAFF)
I don't want to be carried away because MAN, Oron to the best of my knowledge is a specialised institution and rather than wasting time looking for university upgrading or being upgraded to a university, I think they should meet with NIMASA and stakeholders to push for two key issues; one is that government should provide them with training vessels then they should also meet with the international community through lobby so that whatever certificate that comes from there will be recognised. How can there be one maritime academy in Nigeria yet Ghana is our regional certificate issuance for seafarers. I don’t know what is happening, but we are misplacing priority because this is a specialised academy and it is not when you transform it into a university that it will now bring about effective capacity building. Whatever the government needs to do , NIMASA must champion the course to ensure that training vessels for seafarers should be there at any given time. There was a vision of setting up MAN Oron and we need to go back to that vision for the uplifting of the academy because there was a consensus agreement and as a matter of priority, whatever it will cost NIMASA to get vessels for the cadet officers, they should go ahead and acquire vessels for them.
Engineer Mathew Alalade(President Merchant Navy)
It all depends on the federal government’s motive because the minister of transport over time has made some efforts at converting the school to a university. However our counterpart in Ghana has upgraded their own school to university status therefore it is long overdue but again government should intensify effort to upgrade the school with the right amenities before thinking of transforming the academy to a university. However it is a welcome development.
Comrade Mathew Adele (Dockworker)
It has been long overdue because the school is even older than some of the conventional universities and polytechnics in the country. If transformed into a university, it will also become the first maritime university in Nigeria, after all Ghana has a similar university in Kumasi. But the big question is this: are there any facilities that can enhance the transformation project? If no what is the position of the government to upgrade the school for it to become a university.
Joseph Anabaraonye (Registrar, Freight Forwarders Academy of Nigeria)
NIMASA is trying to establish one Maritime University in Delta State and I don't think it has what MAN, Oron is having presently, I believe that if Government wants the MAN Oron to become a degree awarding institution then it will be so, it is not a matter of whether the academy has what it takes to become a university, it is a matter of political will. If the political will is there, then the dream is achievable. The infrastructures that are necessary, even if it is lacking presently, they can be installed by the government itself so as to make the academy become what it intends it to be.
Capt. Thomas Kemeweirigha (Former President, Merchant Navy)
Let them give the academy any name they want, to us it will still remain Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, you and I know the status of the academy right now, they do not have enough lecturers, there is no manpower there, the infrastructures are not standard, so whether they change it to from Maritime Academy to become Maritime University, it remains a maritime academy, it is only the name that has changed, the standard that is questionable is still questionable. Even if they want to start awarding degrees, will it be on core maritime programmes or administrative programmes? If they say they want to award degrees, we have transport management which is purely administration, in terms of marine engineering and nautical sciences, the equipment are not there and the lecturers are not there, if they start awarding degrees as it is, it is substandard degrees.
Mr. Gbolahan Quadri (Maritime Trainer)
Making the transmission is long overdue, if Ghana could have it, Nigeria is more capable to have even more than three. But because the stakeholders in the sector are individualistic, they believe that developing manpower is not their problem, MAN, Oron is supposed to be a baby project of NIMASA because most of the cadets are useful to them and they need their services to develop the maritime sector. But instead of giving these people attention, they are floating a technical college which will become a rival, it is like starting all over again while the one you have is not being maximized. Apart from this, acquisition of knowledge is not a matter of structure; it is a matter of having the qualified lecturers to impact on the students. For you to run a university, there must be a number of professors on your Board and Senate, what MAN Oron is having on ground now is not enough for them to transmute into a university, let them develop it first, let their product speak for them.
Comrade Julius Eforkpo (Sec Gen Merchant Navy)
In my own personal opinion and not of the association, I think it can be upgraded to a university, the reason being that when I visited the school some years back the infrastructure on ground are enough to that of some universities we have around; technically and in addition to that because it is a maritime institution IMO come to the school from time to time for inspection and they have also okayed the facilities as a maritime school and I am also aware that in the past till date they used to send their lectures to Malmo in Sweden for training in order to meet the standard and having said that, they need to have regulation from IMO to have a university curriculum. And as a university they are going to run only one faculty, they are not going to be into marine programme alone rather they will also expose so many areas. Therefore I think they are in the right position to be upgraded to a university.
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