Kunle Kalejaye 14 August 2014, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Seventeen states in the country are currently working with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to sponsor some youths for the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP.
Other states yet to key into the programme are being wooed by NIMASA to embrace it and help promote youth development and job creation in the maritime sector.
NIMASA said since its inception five years ago, over 2,500 young Nigerians have benefited or are currently enjoying various levels of sponsorship in schools in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Romania, India and Philippines under the programme.
Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the first 23 qualified seafarers under the scheme have already emerged from the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport in Egypt, having completed their sea time training and earned the Certificate of Competencies, CoC.
The director general, who stated this during a press conference in Lagos, added that 14 of them graduated with first class honours while one of them emerged the best overall graduating student from the institution this year.
“We are not relenting in our quest to ensure that all beneficiaries of this programme acquire sea time training, which was a challenge in the past.
“At the moment, 51 of our students are at sea acquiring their sea time experience on various ocean-going vessels. Another set of 33 are also ready to join their colleagues at sea before the end of August, 2014,” Akpobolokemi stated.
He described the NSDP as a medium-term gain, but noted that NIMASA has been concerned about a long term solution to the dearth of qualified professional in the maritime sector.
According to him, it was as a result of this that NIMASA had conceived the Nigerian Maritime University, NMU. “The university will produce high level manpower for Nigeria’s maritime/shipping sector on sustainable basis.
