In other to ensure that Nigerian cadets are brought to the same page with their contemporaries in other reputable maritime institutions across the world, renowned Master Mariner, Captain Adewale Ishola has called on private maritime academies to ensure that they improve upon their training facilities.
Captain Ishola who is also a maritime trainer, told Shipping Position Daily during a chat in Lagos last week that, lack of training vessels, simulators and other facilities is what has given maritime academies in other parts of the world an edge over Nigerian academies.
The frontline master mariner also stressed that practical training and experiences will enable the students to understand better what is being taught in the classroom and further enhance their performance on the job.
According to him, the biggest problem in private maritime academies in Nigeria is that most of them lack adequate training apparatus for their students.
Capt. Ishola urged private maritime academies to take a cue from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria; (MAN) in Oron, Akwa Ibom State and install simulators for their cadets”.
I know some simulators have already been installed at Maritime Academy, Oron and I want others to follow suit and improve on that, and for their practical trainings, we need ships because that has been the biggest problem”, he pointed out.
“We need ships to provide practical experience for the Cadets and those coming up, that is my main concern, and we have a lot of Cadets coming out of the institution”, he said.
According to him, cadets who graduated from the private institutions and others that are sent abroad for the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) through NIMASA still need practical experience after their training.
“This is the area I expect Government to do better, by providing training facilities for them, training ships most especially”, he added.
He however acknowledged the developments so far recorded in maritime education in Nigeria saying that “there has been a lot of improvement because, I have been privileged to visit or had so many things to do with most of the colleges, either as an external examiner or a trainer”.
He also urged the maritime academics to employ quality professionals to training the students; this according to him, will further boost the sector.
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