Nigerian Maritime Training Institutions Set to Float Association

There are strong indications that maritime training institutions in Nigeria are making plans to float an association which will further help them in identifying some of the challenging that is currently facing the sector in terms of manpower development.
Shipping Position Daily correspondent exclusively gathered last week that even though the name of the association is yet to be determined, a cross section of maritime training institutions are already warming up towards a meeting which is billed to take place this week, here the name of the association will be determined.

There are strong indications that maritime training institutions in Nigeria are making plans to float an association which will further help them in identifying some of the challenging that is currently facing the sector in terms of manpower development.
Shipping Position Daily correspondent exclusively gathered last week that even though the name of the association is yet to be determined, a cross section of maritime training institutions are already warming up towards a meeting which is billed to take place this week, here the name of the association will be determined.
Reliable sources confirmed to our correspondent that the meeting is going to hold on the 27th of September 2012 in Ogun State and that some of the issues to be discussed bores down to the development and building of capacity. It is also targeted on how to promote the training aspect of the industry and present a position to the federal government.
A particular source told our correspondent that the idea is already gaining supports from many academies as they believe that critical issues could be addressed through this medium.
The source said that the upcoming meeting will look at areas whereby the forum can advice the federal government on how to float some national carriers that can enable some of their students to get involved in shipping activities rather than travelling to Ghana for the mandatory programme.
Highlighting some of the key points for discourse, he said that “it is obvious that there is no support from the government in the areas of building capacity from the shipping/maritime circle and Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron cannot meet the demand of Nigerian youths that are yearning for maritime training therefore with the forum we can be able to address such issues as well’’.
From all indications the institutes involved will be championing the course on how to draw closer to the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency [NIMASA] for assistance.
‘’Majority of the training institutes in the maritime industry is basically into shipping oriented programmes and Maritime Academy of Nigeria cannot meet the demand of Nigerians ‘’our source affirmed.
According to him, all the schools that are involved in the forum are duly registered and accredited by the National Board for Technical Education [NBTE] and the Ministry of Transport respectively.  
However plans are on- going for the forum to organize an election and to come up with a name that will be binding amongst them.