The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved US$454,000 for sea-time training for the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme for cadets on-board Foreign-going Vessels by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and safety Agency (NIMASA).
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, made this known at the end of the second session of the virtual meeting of the FEC coordinated from the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.
According to the minister, the objectives of the consultancy training services, include building capacity of the Nigerian youths to take over the lucrative jobs available in the maritime sector, hitherto dominated by foreigners locally and to export excess Nigerian seamen to fill available spaces globally.
It is also to enable over 1000 idling Nigeria seafarers that have graduated but yet to obtain requisite certificate of competency required of them, so as to be gainfully employed as officers and masters on board ships.
According to the minister, there is currently global scarcity of sea-time training spaces on-board merchant ship, thereby making it imperative for NIMASA to take advantage of the opportunity to build requisite capacity.
He also justified the award that there is the need to further reduce unemployment rate in the country and the fact that Messrs. SWETS MARINE (the contractor) has given guarantee of adequate spaces to absorb 170 cadets, in addition to guaranteeing job placement on-board Chevron vessels for all cadets that would excel during the training.
Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council also on Wednesday approved N623.7 million for the Nigeria Customs Service to buy computers for its zonal and area commands.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, gave the information at the end of the virtual FEC meeting.
He said: “The Minister of Finance presented a memo for the award of contract for 1, 200 units of coloured printers and desktop computers for human resources and accounting management systems across zones and area commands of the Nigeria Customs Service, which was approved.”
“The sum of the contract was N623,700,000 for the 1, 200 desktops and computers for the use of the Customs Service all over the country,” Mohammed told reporters.
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