A former Sole Administrator of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom, Engr Olu Akinsoji has called on the Federal Government to evolve a strategic national plan for seafarers’ training.
Akinsoji, who made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, said that such planning must be all-embracing to make the trained seafarers more useful to the nation’s maritime industry.
A former Sole Administrator of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom, Engr Olu Akinsoji has called on the Federal Government to evolve a strategic national plan for seafarers’ training.
Akinsoji, who made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, said that such planning must be all-embracing to make the trained seafarers more useful to the nation’s maritime industry.
The former Government Inspector of Ships (GIS) expressed concern that there were no ships for the trainees to acquire the requisite practical experience.
He urged industry operators to provide ships for cadets of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) in order to enable them gain the necessary practical experience.
According to him “ Academy is not in a position to ensure they gain experience; is the industry that must provide the ships upon which they will get practical training or the government provide alternative for their experience.“In the process, they must link the product of that experience with the needs of the industry.
“There is no point in training people and they don’t have a job to do.
“So, this still revolves around planning, having strategic national planning for seafarer training for it to go from the beginning to the end and the product to be useful either to the nation or to the world. ’’
Akinsoji, who was also the former Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), said it was not good to train people without jobs for them.
He, therefore, called on government to expose the trainees to sea-time experience for them to cope with the demands of the industry.
“The seafarer training is an international issue that has to meet international standard and an international standard has given three components to that training.
“One is the education; the other is the practical experience on the job; and the third is the government that issues the certificate.
“So there are three levels put together make success of seafarers’ training. “
Akinsoji said that government should ensure that the national seafarers training complied with international standard.
He said that in doing this, education of the trainees, practical experience and government’s involvement should be considered.
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