Nigerian Maritime University Opens In September --- Vice Chancellor

The Nigerian Maritime University (NMU) will open its gates to admit its first set of students in September, 2015. So says the Vice Chancellor of the new school; Professor (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen O. Etebu.
The Vice Chancellor gave this assurance at the introduction of members of the governing council of the University to the hosts community in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State last Saturday.

The Vice Chancellor who is a former commissioner in Bayelsa state however disclosed that the school will operate from its temporary site and added that in no distance time, it will move to the permanent site.

She said that the temporary site has what it takes to commence full academic activities, noting that locating the institution in Gbaramatu is an opportunity for people of the community to get direct and indirect jobs.

Professor Etebu pointed out that the new Maritime University is the first of its kind in the whole of the sub region; even a she promised that management of the school will take it to the next level.

"The Nigerian Maritime University is good to go and we are hoping that from next session, we will admit students from JAMB and we have also agreed with NBTE.

Also speaking, the University’s Pro Chancellor, Professor Viola Onwuliri said that the governing council of the school will support the Vice Chancellor to make sure that Ministry of education assist in the growth of the school.

She said assured that, "anything that we need to get from government and private sector will be of essence so that in future our children will be happy".

The former Minister of foreign affairs also assured of support from the international community. "From my background at the ministry of foreign affairs, I want to believe that we will bring in a lot of friends for the maritime university, we will get a lot of collaborations across the world for this institution"

"We will tap experience from foreign maritime institutions so that our own will be the centre of excellence and we all will be happy that this institution started in this place and everybody in this community is expected to benefit from this".
Earlier at a meeting with the Governor of Delta state; Senator Ifeanyi Okonwa, the governor had told his guest that, the predominance of conventional universities in Nigeria at the detriment of specialized universities is largely responsible for the current unemployment challenge confronting the Nigerian economy.

Receiving the Management of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Governing Council of the Nigeria Maritime University (NMU) during a courtesy visit in Asaba, Governor Okowa stated that specialized universities would provide the right tools to equip graduates with requisite technical abilities that would make them create employment after completing their studies.
“Nigeria should move beyond conventional universities and seek to establish specialized universities which will give the right tools and practical learning that will make graduates employers of labour, rather than job seekers. The unemployment in Nigeria today is largely due to our focus on conventional education” he stated.

On his part, the director general of NIMASA who led the delegation to Delta state; Dr Ziakede Akpobolokemi had noted that the agency conceived the concept of the university to guarantee sustainable international training of qualified manpower for the maritime industry. He said that the dearth of qualified manpower in the Nigerian maritime sector was the driving force behind the University project.
The Federal Government recently approved a governing council for the institution, headed by Prof Viola Onwuliri. Prof. Maureen Etebu was also appointed as the vice chancellor while Mr. Anho Lucky was named as the registrar.