Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Dr Bashir Jamoh recently disclosed that there is a high level of failure among seafarers who sat for the Certificate of Competency (CoC) examinations.
The NIMASA DG had told journalists at a recent press briefing, that out of 829 seafarers who sat for examination under the officer cadre, only 264 passed representing just 32%.
However, investigations by Shipping Position Daily have revealed the real reasons behind the mass failure among seafarers who sat for the Certificate of Competency (CoC) examination.
The investigation is coming on the heels of the recent worry that was expressed by the DG of NIMASA who lamented the failure recorded among Nigerian seafarers who sat for the Certificate of Competency examinations in the last two years.
According to him: “You can see very serious and negative figures in terms of our students seating for professional examinations of different certificates amounting to 68% failure.
“In 2020, Officers examination, the total number that sat for that examination was 610, and the total number that passed was only 251, forming a percentage of 41% pass, while 359 failed, amounting to 59% failure.
“The total number of certificates revalidated was 132, this means that in 2021, we had 246, a considerable increase as being recorded.
“For Officers ratings, the total number that sat for the exams were 1,251, out of this, 926 passed, representing 74% passed. The total number of candidates that failed is 325, representing 26% failure.
“In the examination for ratings in 2021, the total number of students who sat for the exams are 1,327, this is a sharp increase against the 2020 figure of 1,251. The total number of candidates who passed is 990 forming also 74% passed. The total number of candidates who failed is 337 with a percentage of failure of 26%”, he said.
However, Shipping Position Daily spoke to experienced Seafarers, Master Mariners, Cadets and Shipowners. In the cause of our interactions, it was discovered that a combination of factors such as: Lack of adequate class attendance, unqualified lecturers, lack of proper training, lack of adequate onboard sea time training among others are accountable for the failures in the CoC examination.
Speaking to our correspondent, the President of the Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigerian Oron (AMANO) Mr. Emmanuel Maiguiwa said the failure of the entire industry both the maritime training institutions as well as the administrator (NIMASA) who licensed the institutions and the ship owners who do not give adequate sea time to seafarers.
Maiguwa informed that many of the seafarers, who sit for the CoC examination, do not attend classes, stating that many of them do not meet up with the required 75% class attendance.
“I think 75% of attendance is required for the seafarers six months’ duration, the question here is, are these candidates meeting up with these requirements” he asked.
Speaking further, Maiguwa lampooned maritime institutions which allows seafarers to sit for exams when they did not meet up with the required 75% class attendance.
He said: “NIMASA is the examiner here, the maritime training institution that we have are responsible to teach these students and prepare them for the CoC. NIMASA would of course not accept a lower standard in terms of attendance, it is expected that they would not. but the question we need to ask is -what are the minimum requirements set by these schools to allow a candidate to sit for exams.
Explaining further, he said, NIMASA sets the exams and supervise it and the maritime training institutions that have been licensed to conduct this CoC did not ensure that the six months at 75% requirement are met, then you are going to have such massive failures.
“So I think the problem is the institutions. I know the institutions are supposed to be supervised by NIMASA, but if you want to run a maritime institution, you must be responsible, you must have a standard that ensures that you comply with the requirements without the maritime administrator chasing you” he said.
Speaking also to our correspondent, President of the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNOWTSSA) Engr. Bob Youssou noted that the quality of the lecturers in the various maritime institutions is a reflection of the result seen.
He also questioned the quality and experience of some of the lecturers. He called on NIMASA to employ qualified lecturers who will prepare the seafarers for examination.
“There are two things that contribute to the failure, first we need to ask how good are the lecturers; are they professionally qualified, because we need to have qualified lecturers; when I say qualified lecturers, I mean somebody who has gone to sea, who have the experience, not just somebody who have B.sc in Marine Engineering, what can such person give out, because everything is not about the theoretical aspect, so NIMASA supposed to employ experienced retired master mariners”, he said.
On his part, a ship-owner and former President of Nigeria Indigenous Shipowners Association (NISA) Mr. Aminu Umar lamented that many of the seafarers are unable to pass the CoC examination because they lack adequate onboard training or sea time.
“The training for seafarers is divided into two which complement each other. There is the sea/onboard training as well as the classroom training. Many of them are unable to pass those certificates training maybe because they were unable to do their onboard training or sea time.
“There is a limited number of people that can get that sea time because there is less number of vessel owners or vessels that are giving them chances. I think I agree that they do not have those opportunities. NIMASA as well as other government agencies should be able to work with the private sector to see how they can create more chances for these young men and women” he advised.
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But, shedding light on the mass failure, Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron, Commodore Emmanuel Effedua (rtd), said the failure was because the seafarers do not attend classes preparatory to the examinations.
In a statement, the Rector said: “My personal observation is that these candidates hardly attend classes. Candidates register for the examination but only about 30% of the registered candidates end up attending all the classes.”
“It is pertinent to note that these classes are Revision Classes and not training as misconstrued in many quarters. There is nothing new that these candidates need to be taught as they have already been trained at various institutions including the Academy before coming to the Academy to write the Examinations.
“For example, over 70 per cent of the candidates who wrote the 2021 COC Examination attended classes sparingly and some others attended classes less than 20 times and many others did not attend classes at all after registration. The Academy maintains an attendance register which is usually forwarded to NIMASA to keep the Organisation updated”.
Effedua also disclosed that some of the candidates who sit for the COC Examinations have never had formal training in Navigation/Seamanship or Engineering. But, they are qualified to sit for the examination after serving onboard a merchant vessel for 36 months.
“Having served onboard vessels for at least 36 months as prescribed by the Standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) which automatically makes them eligible to write the Examination. Having mentioned some of these observations, it will be miraculous for such candidates and those who make scanty appearances at lectures to pass examinations”, he said.
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