Kunle Kalejaye 17 November 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Less than three weeks after a group NIMSID demanded the resignation of the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside for inability to prepare discharge book for seafarers, the NIMASA boss has revealed that the booklet was ready.
Peterside did not only reveal that the Seaman Discharge book used by seafarers was ready, he added that no Nigerian seafarer or cadet would be denied the opportunity of going on board vessels on account of not possessing the document.
He stated this while addressing Nigerian students under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP, in Universitatea Maritime Din Constanta (the Maritime University Constanta) in Romania.
The director general said their training cycle would be incomplete without seatime berth and on-board training, hence the priority attention given to the production of the Discharge book.
Peterside charged the students to take their studies seriously as the country was investing heavily in their training with the hope that they would fill the gap of dearth of maritime professionals in the country, become employable, as well as earn foreign exchange for Nigeria.
Also speaking, Hon Mohamed Umaru Bago, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, charged the students to make the necessary sacrifice today to secure their future and that of their families.
“At your time of strength and youth, do more than you are paid for today so that you can be paid more than you work for tomorrow” Bago advised.
He said the only way the cadets could appreciate the sacrifices the country was making on their behalf was for them to come out with excellent grades.
