ACADEMIC activities will take off at the Maritime University, Okerenkoko, in Delta State, in October, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dakuku Peterside, has assured.
He also noted that the establishment of the varsity by the Federal Government and other institutes for maritime studies in six universities across Nigeria were efforts by his agency towards building the requisite capacity for the industry.
Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, stated these yesterday at the world-class conference hall of INTELS, Onne Port Complex in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, at the celebration of the annual Seafarers’ Day, with the theme: “Seafarers Matter.”
The guest speaker on the occasion was Capt. Fola Ojutalayo. There were goodwill messages from eminent personalities and colourful cultural displays by two groups from Rivers state.
The NIMASA chief, who is the first director-general of the agency (NIMASA) to attend seafarers’ day, stated that the day was set aside by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to celebrate seafarers globally, for their numerous contributions to the development of shipping and the world economy.
He noted that the celebration was to engage the people working in the ports and other seafarer centres to demonstrate how much the seafarers mattered.
Peterside, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state in 2015, stressed that the IMO expected everyone in the shipping industry and members of the public to support the seafarers’ global campaign, by showing appreciation of how important the seafarers were.
He said: “The seafarers are not only important to the shipping companies, but are equally important to everyone on the planet, because they transport all over the world, those essential items, commodities and components which are so important to our daily lives.
“For us in NIMASA, the seafarers will continue to occupy a pride of place in our activities, which explains why priority attention is being paid to the development of human capacity, through the adoption of a multi-strategy approach, aimed at encouraging the young school leavers to take a career at sea as cadets, through the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), while also facilitating the training and retraining of existing seafarers to enhance their eligibility to take up job opportunities anywhere in the world.
“The NSDP, which was initiated by the agency (NIMASA) in 2008, with the aim of bridging the gap observed in the dearth of seafarers in the country, as a result of the liquidation of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), has so far facilitated the training of 2,259 young Nigerians in various fields of maritime studies in reputable maritime institutions in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Romania, India and the Philippines.
“Arrangements are at advanced stage for the placement of 943 cadets of the NSDP on board vessels, for their mandatory sea time. The agency has maintained consistency in its policy of training and retraining of seafarers for relevant skills’ acquisition and upgrade.”
Peterside also stated that the purpose of the training and retraining was to ensure that Nigeria had adequate skilled manpower for the maritime industry, especially in meeting the demands of the cabotage regime.
He said: “The agency (NIMASA), in March this year, facilitated the training of 428 seafarers on mandatory courses and other specific areas of specialisation for career progression.
“The agency is also engaging ship owners and seafarers’ employers on the need to provide gainful employment to qualified Nigerian seafarers. It is important that our ship owners should give some level of preference to our seafarers, especially in the cabotage trade, as against the practice of engaging foreign seafarers.
“As Nigerians and maritime operators, we should be proud of our seafarers and also encourage them to develop their careers/competencies, like their foreign counterparts.
“The Cabotage Act is undergoing review by the National Assembly and it is the agency’s position that the review will take care of all the grey areas in the application, processing and granting of waiver to the extent it should be seen to give some level of advantage to Nigerian seafarers, especially in the areas of employment and specialised training.”
The NIMASA director-general lauded the seafarers for their sacrifices, courage and commitment towards making the world a better place for all to live.
He enjoined all well-meaning Nigerians, including government agencies, ship owners, seafarers’ employers, oil and gas operators and other maritime practitioners to acknowledge the importance of seafarers by appreciating them, through putting in place sustainable policies for improved working and living conditions for them.
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