Nigerian cadets that are studying in maritime institutions abroad are one of the best in their class and Nigerian seafarers practicing all over the world are also the best on the job, so says the National President of the Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Engr Mathew Alalade.
Engr Alalade in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week affirmed that many Nigerian cadets studying in Britain as well as in other parts of the world have proven to be the best above some of their foreign counterparts.
Nigerian cadets that are studying in maritime institutions abroad are one of the best in their class and Nigerian seafarers practicing all over the world are also the best on the job, so says the National President of the Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Engr Mathew Alalade.
Engr Alalade in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week affirmed that many Nigerian cadets studying in Britain as well as in other parts of the world have proven to be the best above some of their foreign counterparts.
He also said that Nigerian seafarers, even those without certificates perform better on the job above some of the expatriates that are most of the time engaged as superiors over them. He however blamed master mariners from a section of the country for trying to suppress the importance of Nigeria trained seafarers simply because they did not study abroad.
“Nigerian cadets and even our boys that go to Britain are the best in the class, but the politics there that nobody will understand is that the master mariners from a section of this country do not want the certificate to be stronger, they are the ones suppressing it, but now they can no longer do that”
“Nigerian officers are very good, even the foreigners when they work with them, we do the work for them but they bring somebody from the Philippines who does not have certificate to come and trade here, nobody verify their certificate whether it is true or not, but Nigerians even without the certificates still perform better than their foreign counterparts on the job” he said.
He commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for the training of Nigerian seafarers abroad, even as he added that in other to complement the training, there is need for the country to have a national carrier in other to provide training platforms for Nigerian cadets.
He also expressed confidence that since Nigeria seafarers are internationally inclined, the ratification and implementation of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) is going to bring about good working conditions and welfare for them.
Part of the problem according to him is because the certificates are being signed by the Director General of NIMASA and not the chief examiners.
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