From available statistics, more than 5,000 Cadets have graduated from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), in Oron, Akwa Ibom state. Apart from MAN Oron, there are thousands of cadets who have also graduated from institutions such as the College of Fisheries and Marine Technology in Lagos. All these cadets contribute to the large pool of unemployed and unemployable graduates of nautical academies that Nigeria now parades.
In the midst of this, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has forced itself into the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP); a programme that was designed to turn out qualified seafarers, but which is gradually adding to the already long list of unemployed professionals.
Apart from those who are unemployed, there are several who though employed, are facing unfair labour practices, irrespective of the fact that Nigeria has ratified the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006.
So every year, the world remembers its seafarers, whose impacts are unquantifiable. Without seafarers, how will nation’s trade? It is to highlight their contributions, their challenges and so on that June 25 of every year has been set aside by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to celebrate the world’s seafarers and also draw attention to their plight.
What has now become an annual ritual of celebrating the world’s seafarers actually started in 2010. It was in that year that the Diplomatic Conference which met in Manila to adopt milestone revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention) and its associated Code, also agreed that the unique contribution made by seafarers from all over the world to international seaborne trade, the world economy and civil society as a whole, should be marked annually with a ‘Day of the Seafarer’. The date chosen was June25 of every year, the day on which the amendments were formally adopted.
The objectives of the day include increasing awareness among the general public of the indispensable services you render to international seaborne trade, the world economy and society at large. It’s also meant as a day to send a clear message to all seafarers that they are recognised and appreciated; that the world understands the extraordinary conditions and circumstances of seafaring, that the world cares about them and that they will be protected whenever the circumstances of life at sea so warrant.
The World Seafarers’ Day is also set aside as a day to redouble efforts at the regulatory level to create a better, safer and more secure world for the professionals.
And back to Nigeria, where the day has also enjoyed prominence. We say that, irrespective of their current rating within the nation’s maritime sector, Nigerian seafarers are arguably an important stakeholder. One can hardly forget how hot and respectable it was to be a seafarer up till the mid- 1990s; that was before the liquidation of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).
The average age of the youngest master mariner and marine engineer in the country today is about 57 years, while there are thousands of lower cadre seafarers, few of whom are gainfully employed.
A lot of people have blamed the current travail of the Nigerian seafarer on government and by extension, NIMASA, which is the implementing agency for maritime labour. Without mincing words, NIMASA has not done well enough to boost the marketability of emerging seafarers. This it would have done by ensuring that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom state is well funded, but rather than do this, it funded the creation of maritime institutes in universities and also sending young Nigerians to foreign maritime academies for training in nautical sciences and marine engineering. The most shocking part of its deliberate policy is the controversial establishment of a maritime university in Delta state.
There are about 1.2 million seafarers in the world, and good enough, Nigerian seafarers make up a sizeable number of the lot.
In a country where thousands of seafarers are either unemployed or under employed, where the ship registry is depleting by the day, one can hardly expect anything positive, beyond the euphoria of joining the number.
We recall sadly that the nation joined others to endorse the Seafarers Identity Document (SID) some years ago, without understanding the requirements from each signatory-nation. The SID that was commissioned with pump and glamour by the then-Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC) has had no impact on the Nigerian maritime sector, largely because the nation’s seafaring population is depleted by unemployment.
So, we advise that rather than celebrate the ‘day’ as usual, the responsible agency should see the 2016 celebration as a wake-up call to focus on quality training for seafarers, and ensure seatime for them after the training.
It is a shame that Nigeria no longer parades world-class seafarers, she no longer owns ships. But even if we no longer own ships, the abundance of budding and qualified seafarers should propel government to guarantee safety and decent work condition for them; that is the intendment of the MLC2006 and that , in our opinion should be the essence of the ‘seafarers day’.
We note the recent assurance given by the Director General of NIMASA; Dr Dakuku Peterside that the agency would provide seatime experience to the cadets who just finished their training in Philippines. While receiving the cadets in his office recently, he assured them that modalities had been put in place to ensure that they have access to the necessary sea time experience that will make them complete seafarers.
This is rather vague, because we know that there are no such opportunities anywhere in the country. This is sadly because we do not have the ships on which the cadets can train. There are a few supply boats, and this is why some cadets seek help at ferry jetties and in other places. They are either ignorant that such places can’t pass for seatime experience, or they just want to be at sea!
Nothing has changed since 2010 and as we (once again) celebrate the seafarers’ day, we join millions of users of the services of the world seafarers to say a very big thank you to all of them all over the world, because without them there can be no commerce. The world’s seafarers sacrifice the comfort of their homes and family and face the hazard and loneliness of the sea. Yes, the sea is actually very lonely!
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