"Lagos State should have a maritime university because it is the hub of maritime activity in Nigeria as of today", so says Comrade Owolabi Omotayo, Chairman of Water Transporters, Liverpool Branch in Lagos.
Even though the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had in 2014 established a maritime university in Okerenkoko, Delta State, Comrade Omotayo has called for a replica in Lagos.
"Lagos State should have a maritime university because it is the hub of maritime activity in Nigeria as of today", so says Comrade Owolabi Omotayo, Chairman of Water Transporters, Liverpool Branch in Lagos.
Even though the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had in 2014 established a maritime university in Okerenkoko, Delta State, Comrade Omotayo has called for a replica in Lagos.
Omotayo during a chat with Shipping Position Daily, lamented that it is worrisome that most of the cadets seen in Lagos finish from private maritime academies scattered around the State and still roam the streets looking for where to have their sea time.
He argued that even though Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron is working, there is need to have another maritime university elsewhere, saying that this will help the region in training the youths who are conversant with seafaring jobs.
"If we have five maritime universities in Nigeria, I think with our population we need it, there should be one in all the coastal geo-political areas, especially in Lagos, Niger Delta and Lokoja axis"
"You can see that new ports are being built and we don't need quack and mushroom institutions, today you see some private institutions with no practical equipment, no vessel, nothing to train the cadets to meet up international standard"
"Okerenkoko, MAN Oron and one in Lagos, should complement each other and funds should be pumped in to acquire training vessels" he said.
The water transporter said that the setting up of maritime university at Okerenkoko is a welcome development because most Nigerian seafarers travel to Ghana for their ‘mandatory courses’ because MAN Oron is inadequate in providing the required international standard of training.
He advised that the Maritime University in Okerenkoko should be well equipped to add value to the development of manpower for the seafarers. He said that the university should be provided with the enough simulators and other equipment for the practical training.
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