Captain Ishola Adewale (Master Mariner)
I don’t agree with you. We have to be very careful in generalising that kind of statement. On what basis are you putting it out and which institution are you referring to? You cannot put everybody together. You need to be very specific and note statistics from such schools before you can determine whether a school is of high or low standards. We need to be careful when passing judgements on the level of Maritime Education in Nigeria. We need to point out areas and institutions which are not measuring up and investigate them. Whatever we say will affect us internationally, so we don’t judge and kill ourselves in the eyes of the world; expecting the world to accept us when we are already rubbishing ourselves.
I don’t see why we need to send our Cadets to Philippines or China when we have a maritime institutions of high repute in Nigeria.
Mr. Chris Sadoh (Stars Maritime Academy)
I would say yes; the standard is low to a certain extent, because there is no encouragement from government agencies. They concentrate only on government-owned Maritime institutions which ought not be. If you go to other developed nations, they encourage individuals to embark on maritime education. By so doing, it makes maritime education to be very popular. But in Nigeria, reversed is the case. That is why many people don’t even know about maritime education. You have to do a lot of sensitisation and training. There is even no encouragement from the government to those who graduate that may enable then inform others.
To a certain extent, education is low. We need to ensure that government agencies which are directly in charge of maritime activities have in mind that we have educational institutions and academies that can also train these individuals to become seafarers and other shipping officers in the nation. It is not every time we send our Cadets to other nations for formal education. Let us also encourage the ones we have in Nigeria.
Engineer Bob Yousuo (President, NMOWTSSA)
Anyway, I will not say it is low, there are improvements. The maritime standard is high and getting better every day. The standard is not limited only to MAN Oron. Even other universities offer maritime courses such as Maritime Transport, Bsc in Marine Engineering and others. To me, I think the maritime standard is up to date. We are trying but the only area I think we need to improve on is the practical aspect of the core courses like engineering and navigation. Those areas need to work with much practical and must be improved upon. But in other courses and areas, I think we are doing well and great. When our students go out to write exams, they are doing well and can compete with their counterparts. The maritime educational standard is very high and commendable. They should just improve on the practical aspect and have vessels. That is the only areas I think we should improve on.
Captain Waredi Enuisuoh
In the face of what I see in MAN Oron and Charkins Maritime, it is supposed to be rising. However, I’m not privy to how the enormous resources are deployed. Mind you, Maritime Education is by no way concentrated on land training only. There’s the shipboard side of the training. The training institutions can do their best, but without guided training onboard ship, the knowledge given to them by their instructors can go to waste if not properly tailored and applied onboard ships; where the theory should be consolidated.
While looking at the Cadets and the training institutions, we must not forget also that the examiners’ standards have pushed the standards up. Whether same is replicated in the training institution is something we may look at.
Standards definitely fell as we are still in transition from the era when certificates were either being given away or forged. There’s still a lot to be done.
Captain Thomas Kemewerigha
Nothing is low and high. The only area where we have some shortcomings is the training and sea time acquisition. This is a standard that is monitored by IMO and they have never found us wanting. I stand to be corrected. Do you know how many of our Academy students are excelling in Asia, Europe and other parts of the world? It is just the zeal to build up what we have to have what we want. That is the truth, I cannot see any shortfalls. It is the same standard globally; where you go for your sea time for two years, then for your world shipping certificate. These are programmed by IMO and when IMO audits you and you are in order, you are good to go. Generally, in Nigeria education is given less privilege compared to other nations. It cuts across all institutions, but yet we still have the very good ones we claim not to be good and when they go out, they become the best. We are okay, we should only look into the zeal.
Captain Adetayo Saliu (Chairman, Merchant Navy Shipping Zonal Council)
Our standard is not low because, to the best of my knowledge, we are in conformity with international standard, the curriculum is at par to the best of my knowledge. We are not low; it is only in the implementation of the regulatory aspect that Nigeria should work on so that we would equip our schools more to be up to standard. The recognised maritime institutions should be well- equipped. If we do that and upgrade our examination system, I think we are good to go. We should also start issuing the certification of our Class 2 and 1 so that we will be at par with others. But the educational standard is not low; if you compare it to the British curriculum for Marine Engineering and Nautical Science. Our standard is not low.
Captain Alfred Oniye
The Maritime educational standard is nothing to write home about, because we are operating below international standards. Our curriculum is completely outdated. That is why anyone who attends a maritime institution in Nigeria can hardly get a job onboard a ship, because they were trained with an outdated curriculum. I wish NIMASA can do something to review this curriculum which will go a long way. The people who are overseeing the affairs of maritime institutions in Nigeria, I really don’t see them as competent enough. Even if they are not competent, they should engage experts to review this curriculum for them. There are Master Mariners who are seasoned Captains and Marine Engineers who are still very active at Sea and sail internationally. I think NIMASA should engage the service of the professionals to put things in place for them.
Maritime schools in Nigeria are just pushing out half-baked personnel into the market. The standard of Maritime Education is falling drastically. There is an IMO standard to be a trainer and many of the trainers in our institutions are falling short of these standards. Your students cannot fail if you teach them well. It shows that you yourself don’t know the job.
Engineer Matthew Alalade (Former President, Merchant Navy)
We have a good standard. The only issue is that the regulatory and examining body are to sit tight. Whenever the students sit for exam, let the examiners be responsible for the certification and not a political office holder. It is the examiners that can really certify the students on their Certificate of Competency (CoC) according to the standards. If this is done, our CoC will be greatly respected globally. We should also look into the loop holes of our examinations and certification. Our maritime educational standard is not low.
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