From available statistics, there more than 5,000 cadets of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria(MAN), Oron who though completed their National Diploma programme between 2001 and 2012, who have not been unable to proceed for the Higher National Diploma (HND) level because they are unable to acquire sea-time experience. Worse still, they are unemployable, because they cannot be issued with Certificate of Competency (CoC) – a mandatory requirement for placement on board.
From available statistics, there more than 5,000 cadets of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria(MAN), Oron who though completed their National Diploma programme between 2001 and 2012, who have not been unable to proceed for the Higher National Diploma (HND) level because they are unable to acquire sea-time experience. Worse still, they are unemployable, because they cannot be issued with Certificate of Competency (CoC) – a mandatory requirement for placement on board.
Giving further insight on this, the Rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron; Mr Joshua Okpo, said the development is compounded by the lack of a training vessel and the dearth of Nigerian shipping companies that can take the cadets on board.
Until recently, there are only two government–owned maritime training institutions, namely: MAN, Oron and the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, these were the two that are ‘recognised’ as maritime training institutions Nigeria. Outside of these, there are scores of accredited maritime training institutions, many of which have been tagged ‘mushroom’ by some stakeholders.
The new addition to the list of government institutions is the Nigeria Maritime University (NMU), which is to open its gates in September at riverine Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta state. With that addition, Nigeria now has three ‘recognised maritime training institutions’.
In contrast however, Philippines has 66 functional maritime training institutions, all of them of international standard, churning out world-recognised professionals in nautical sciences, marine engineering, marine transportation and a lot of other maritime courses. With their population, Philippines is the largest supplier of ship crews in the world as the country’s cadets work on board ships all over the world.
It is in some of these institutions in Philippines that Nigerian cadets are distributed under the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).Hundreds of Nigerians are currently schooling at: University of Perpetual Help System, Lyceum of the Philippines University, (Lyceum International Maritime Academy (LIMA) in Batangas Province and University of Cebu. The good thing is that these institutions are equipped with state of the art facilities for maritime education.
Apparently realizing the need to improve on the level of maritime training in Nigeria, NIMASA has also inaugurated has also established maritime faculties in some Universities, this is in addition to the National Seafarers Development Programme.
NIMASA initiated the NSDP scheme in 2008, with the aim of producing qualified Nigerian merchant Navy officers and ratings by sponsoring their training abroad in nautical science, marine engineering and marine transportation as well as naval architecture amongst others.
There are about 2, 500 beneficiaries of NSDP in academic institutions in Egypt, India, Philippines, Romania and the United Kingdom. Some of them have since graduated.
While we agree that government alone (through MAN, Oron and the College of Fisheries and Marine Technology) cannot meet the need of the nation in the area of maritime education, we are not in support of the predominance of dignified secondary schools that are currently bestriding our landscape in the name of offering maritime education.
Certainly, even the few that have been accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) only offers management courses. There is none that offers nautical or marine engineering studies sufficient to offer top rate job. With the type of curriculum these academies offer, their products can certainly not pass for seafarers.
What Nigeria needs at this period is a deliberate policy on maritime education that is tailored towards churning out qualified seafarers, who can advance from such nautical schools to commence sea time and from there, become qualified professionals.
We commend the determination of some privately-run maritime institutions that are offering opportunities for Nigerian youths to acquire maritime education, we put it on record that some of them are actually up to the standard prescribed for them by the NBTE, which is the accrediting authority.
But, without denigrating some of the very few maritime schools that have been accredited by NBTE, certainly products of these schools are not what will fill the vacuum that currently exists in the seafaring profession.
What Nigeria needs is a crop of young cadets in well-structured and equipped nautical colleges, who after graduation will acquire sea time experience and from there, commence seafaring all over the world.
Similarly, while we commend NIMASA for establishing the Maritime University and for the Institutes of Maritime Studies in some Nigerian Universities, we are quite worried about what appears to be a deliberate policy to kill the MAN, Oron.
It is on record that the quest to upgrade the Akwa Ibom state-based academy into a University has been on for some years, we are surprised at the rush to establish and adequately fund the new University.
But, our major worry is about the future of the expected graduates of these institutions. Even though the idea is good, what efforts are being made to secure their future in terms of seatime and ultimate employment?
The Director General of NIMASA; Mr Ziakede Akpobolokemi, in justifying the various innovations, cited Philippines as an example of a country that earns more than $6 billion from selling seafarers across the globe, adding that the new university is intended to supply seafarers to needy nations across the globe too, and not just offer localize services.
Finally, we advise that while NIMASA is intensifying efforts at making the ‘Gbaramatu university’ to stand, it should not by any means kill the Oron academy, after all the argument has always been that Nigeria needs more than one maritime academy.
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