Perm Sec. Clears the Air on Multiple Maritime Academies, Says There Is Only One Maritime Academy in Nigeria

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transport, Mr Femi Olayisade has cleared the air on agitation by some stakeholders for the establishment of more maritime academies in Nigeria, saying that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa state is Nigeria’s only maritime academy.
Olayisade told journalists recently in Oron that it is the plan of the federal government to upgrade the Academy to a specialised university for the training of maritime industry manpower and that any other maritime academy could only be campuses of the Institution.
He had gone to the Academy to represent the minister of transport, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio at the commissioning of a set of facilities and equipment that were donated to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited. 
“As far as we are concerned, there is only one maritime academy in Nigeria, the one in Badagry is supposed to be branch of this one (in Oron), and it has not even taken off, it is still a proposal”, the Permanent Secretary stated.
He however agreed that in line with the nation’s high population, there is need to have more training institutions, adding that it has been confirmed that the Oron Academy can not take care of more than 40 per cent of the nation’s admission requirements every year.
“If there are branches, there is nothing bad about it, but we think of that, this one has to be developed to such a stage that it will be father to all the ones that are coming”,  he stressed.
There had been moves to establish rival academies to compete with the Oron Academy since 2008, a development which culminated in the establishment of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Badagry. But the school is yet to take – off since then. 
Also, in the midst of arguments and counter arguments on the need for other academies, the Oron Academy was starved of funds by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) which is supposed to release a percentage of its income to the academy.
The argument of NIMASA was that its Act stipulates that he funds should be released to ‘Maritime Academy of Nigeria’ and not Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron.
That position has since changed following the intervention of the National Assembly’s committees on marine transport.