Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — The Centre for Marine Surveyors Nigeria, in collaboration with Nigerian Content Monitoring Development Board, NCMDB, and the Niger Delta University, NDU, has commenced moves to address the dearth of marine personnel in the country.
They have concluded plans to run a post-graduate diploma programme in Marine Surveying.
Speaking at the commencement of the programme in Lagos, President of the Centre, Prince Bambo Ademiluyi, disclosed that the centre was working towards retrieving marine surveying jobs that have been lost to foreigners.
Ademiluyi said that besides reclaiming lost jobs, the programme is also meant to bridge the man power gap created by the aging ones in the maritime industry.
He stated that there is currently a dearth of marine surveyors in Nigeria adding that if steps were not taken to arrest the development, it could lead to situation where marine surveyors becomes an endangered specie of marine manpower.
The group’s President explained that besides the training, there are also plans to get the trained marine surveyors to get international certification.
He disclosed that the programme would be run and managed at the Niger Delta University, NDU that will issue certifications at the end of the programme.
He further disclosed that the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board, NCDMB, has also concluded plans to sponsor the training of 30 marine surveyors every year for five years.
Fifteen of the sponsored candidates will come from Bayelsa and the balance of 15 candidates from the Lagos area.
He reiterated that the Content Board Act stipulates that Nigerians must be given the right of first refusal when such job comes up anywhere in Nigeria.
He said: “We found out that there is dearth of personnel in the area of marine surveyors because most of the qualified surveyors are getting old and we thought if we do not bridge that gap now we will have a situation in future where foreigners will take marine survey industry and jobs in Nigeria because it is already happening, a lot of foreigners are already practicing in Nigeria.
“So that is why we started this programme and get them certified internationally because this training will help to fill that gap.”
“This is the first set of student we are training and the short and long term effect is to have a well package marine surveying industry that can withstand the test of time and allow Nigerians to go anywhere in the world to work as marine surveyors.
“We want to bridge the gap and fill up Nigerian space with marine surveyors and have Nigerians go off-shore to work.”
Ademiluyi reiterated the issue of integrity in the work of marine survey adding the report of a marine surveyor is key to investors’ decision.
