*Calls For More Training Equipment

*Qualified Lecturers

*Insist on Trainings for Staff

The minister and the Rector during the commissioning

With the abundant natural resources and potentials that Nigeria has been blessed with, the Honourable Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has prevailed on the Management of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) to double its efforts in the training of manpower and seafarers to strengthen and reposition the country’s Maritime industry for global competitiveness.

The Minister who gave the charge on Monday, May 6, 2019 while in the Academy to commission and inspect some State of -the- art projects undertaken by the Commodore Emmanuel Duja Effedua-led administration maintained that the maritime sector in Nigeria is weak and grossly untapped, and therefore needs rapid development to catch up with other academies in the world that are even younger by year of establishment. He assured that statutory funds from NIMASA for the Academy are not going to be unduly delayed. The Minister also gave the Rector marching orders that unproductive Staff should be shown the way out of the Academy for the new spirit to flow freely.

Highly impressed with the Rector, Commodore Emmanuel Effedua and commending him for the rapid transformation in infrastructure and associated areas since his assumption of office barely one and half years, the Transportation Minister noted that a lot more has to be done in upgrade of training equipment for Cadets, quality and quantity of teaching staff, staff capacity building and sea time experience for qualified Cadets.

“Nigeria is so blessed with natural resources in the maritime industry. If all that needed to be done are judiciously done, it may start attracting interests from experts outside the country. That means if this institution is given necessary support through provision of world-class equipment, sound and adequate academic staff, quality infrastructure and competitive market value for Cadets, it can compete favourably with her counterparts across the globe. The dwindling fortune in oil that everybody in the country depends upon, the Maritime sector has the potentials to be Nigeria’s economic life-wire. But practical steps must be taken to achieve that”, Mr. Amaechi emphasized.

In his remarks, the Rector, Commodore Effedua thanked the Honourable Minister and the Federal Government for the timely intervention, renewed interest and support so far given to the Academy but listed some challenges he inherited to include undue interference by members of the host communities, over-bloated staff, insufficient number of quality academic staff, poor state of training facilities for Cadets.

Commodore Effedua however disclosed that whereas he still has much to do in repositioning the Academy to international best standards, his focus in the last one year was on massive infrastructure and staff/Cadets reorientation.

Projects commissioned by the Minister were: Four classroom blocks with offices of international standards, Sports stadium, ICT Centre, Auditorium, Simulator Centre and Library Complex.