A renewed call has gone to the Federal Government to provide training vessels for Nigerian cadets in various maritime academies in the country.
National President Nigerian Merchant Navy officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association; Engineer Alalade Matthew made the appeal in Uyo; Akwa Ibom State recently , where he called on the federal government to acquire trading and training vessels for Nigerian students, even as he urged the government to create an enabling environment for mariners who no longer have interest to work in Nigeria.
A renewed call has gone to the Federal Government to provide training vessels for Nigerian cadets in various maritime academies in the country.
National President Nigerian Merchant Navy officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association; Engineer Alalade Matthew made the appeal in Uyo; Akwa Ibom State recently , where he called on the federal government to acquire trading and training vessels for Nigerian students, even as he urged the government to create an enabling environment for mariners who no longer have interest to work in Nigeria.
Alalade confirmed that hundreds of his members have found greener pastures in Asia because of government’s failure to establish a new national carrier; he stated that Nigeria mariners are hot cakes in Asia.
In a statement sent to Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, the seafarers’ leader noted that “seafarers are faced with many challenges in which we want government agencies to provide conducive and enabling environments.
"We urged the Government of Nigeria to acquire Trading and Training Vessels in order to train and have sea time for our youths passing out from our Maritime Institutions."
On Nigerian seafarers in the Diaspora, he affirmed that, " They are mostly in Singapore, Middle East, all over the world rendering shipping services efficiently."
Speaking further, he lamented that the Nigeria Joint Industrial Consultative Council NJIC has failed to review seafarers welfare and that it was an agreement reached with NIMASA for a long time without success.
"Secondly, the review of salary/wages NJIC- Nigeria Joint Industrial Consultative Council have not done anything to review seafarers wages as agreed for a long time by the government Agency, NIMASA."
" NIMASA must wake up from its slumber, acquiring ships in Nigeria is long overdue."
Discussion about this post