Merchant Navy Tackles Nigeria Navy Over Training Of Seafarers  

The Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association has disagreed with the Nigeria Navy over which body should be responsible for the training of seafarers.
The seafarers union argued that it is not the responsibility of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) to training seafarers, saying that recent statement credited to the Navy that anyone desirous of a career is seafaring should go to the NDA is misleading.
Shipping Position Daily  recalls that the Nigeria Navy  had is  a recent statement by one of its spokesperson;  Captain Suleman Dahun, advised members of the public wishing to pursue  a career in the navy; both  military and merchant navy to visit the websites of the Nigerian Defence Academy{NDA} , the Nigerian Navy and the Maritime Academy of  Nigeria for career opportunities.
But in a reaction, National President of the  Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association; Engineer Matthew Alalade stated that the constitution does not allow the Navy or Army to train seafarers, adding that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria MAN Oron in Akwa Ibom State, College of Fisheries and other private maritime schools in are the qualified institutions to training students who wish to pursue  a career in shipping.
According to him, School of Fisheries and Maritime Academy of Nigeria {MAN}, which are federal maritime institutions, cannot satisfy the yearnings for seafarers training, which gave rise to the need for private maritime schools to also training seafarers.
He also commended the naval authorities for their effort on the clampdown of fake merchant navy institutions, adding that the union will also support the navy to rid the country of illegal school with nautical background.
Going down memory lane, he affirmed that the Federal College of Fisheries has been in existence before MAN, Oron was established, adding that the Victoria Island based school was set up in 1969.
‘’Federal College of Fisheries was established in 1969 as a vocational training institution for fishing trawlers and in 1992 it was upgraded to technological institute called Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology’’
‘’MAN Oron was established in 1979 as a nautical college in Nigeria to train ship board officers, ratings and shore base management personnel’’
‘’However, Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology  deals with nautical and fishing  which is supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture therefore it is not in the place of the Navy  to state that NDA and MAN Oron are the only institutiosn that should be in the know as regards seafarers training.’’