Minister of transport; Senator Idris Umar has laid to rest allegations that government was starving Nigeria’s oldest nautical institution; the Maritime Academy of Nigeria of funds. The minister said that contrary to the widely held opinion of underfunding, the Oron, Akwa Ibom state-based, 32 year old academy is being adequately funded by the Government.
Minister of transport; Senator Idris Umar has laid to rest allegations that government was starving Nigeria’s oldest nautical institution; the Maritime Academy of Nigeria of funds. The minister said that contrary to the widely held opinion of underfunding, the Oron, Akwa Ibom state-based, 32 year old academy is being adequately funded by the Government.
The minister gave this verdict over the weekend at the sent-forth ceremony organised by the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for Nigerian Cadets which the agency is sponsoring to Philippines under the Nigerian Seafarers’ Development Programme (NSDP).
The Minister who was fielding questions from journalists at the event affirmed that MAN, Oron is not complaining because the government is funding the institution as it should.
“I don’t think they are even complaining about funding, it is more of imagination than reality, they are not complaining”, he told journalists, even as he added that another maritime academy would soon be established in the Niger-Delta for the benefit of Nigerian cadets in the region.
The minister also gave assurance that government will partner with the private sector to aid existing private maritime training institutions in Nigeria. According to him, the government is doing everything possible to upgrade the Maritime Academy in Oron to a degree awarding institution.
Senator Umar, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan at the send forth, maintained that the foreign training was in line with government’s desire to create employment for the youths.
He noted that the federal government was adequately aware of the vast resources that are available but yet to be tapped in the maritime sector, saying that government would step up the tempo to ensure that they are tapped as to make the country compete favourably and earn foreign exchange like other maritime nations across the globe.
Justifying the essence of the training, the Minister disclosed that apart from the 525 cadets who were set to leave the country by last Sunday, another batch of 1000 will leave in January 2013, and lamented that there is a gap in the nation's seafaring because many seafarers in the industry are now advanced in age and training is designed to bridge the gap.
Earlier in his speech, the Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the overseas training under the NSDP would address the shortage of manpower which the nation is experiencing and expressed optimism that, in a few years, Nigeria will be better for it.
He told the cadets that they were being sent abroad with the aim of coming back to contribute to the development of the country, assuring them that NIMASA would give them the necessary financial backing during the training.
“You owe the country, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria to keep the flag of Nigeria flying wherever you go; you owe us a duty in projecting the good image of Nigeria, the good culture of Nigeria, Akpobolokemi urged the Cadets.
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