Kunle Kalejaye 25 May 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is seeking the expertise of Texas Southern University in the United States in shore-based technical training for maritime sector personnel in Nigeria.
The training, according to NIMASA’s Director General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, is aimed at improving the agency’s capacity to regulate maritime activities and stimulate necessary growth in the Nigerian sector.
He revealed this when he led a delegation to a meeting with the United States Commercial Service, West Gulf Maritime Association and the Texas Southern University at university’s campus in Houston, Texas.
Harping on the need for skilled manpower to spearhead the development of the Nigerian maritime industry, Peterside highlighted the potentials of the Nigerian market, including the vastness of its coastline and huge population.
These, he said, called for greater collaboration with Nigeria’s international partners to grow skilled indigenous manpower for the development of the industry, which, according to him, is capable of taking over from oil as the country’s highest revenue earner.
While calling on members of the West Gulf Maritime Association to take advantage of the potentials in the Nigeria maritime industry to invest in the sector, the Director General assured them of his agency’s commitment to effectively end the scourge of piracy in Nigerian waters as well as regulate the sector for the economic prosperity of all stakeholders.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Commercial Counsellor in the US Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Richard Ryan, assured the Director General of the cooperation of the government, saying the embassy will forge closer commercial ties with the agency to grow the maritime sector in Nigeria.
Officials of the university, who took turns to brief the delegation, offered technical cooperation in the areas of capacity building, ICT-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, ISR, as well as provide assistance with the development of Electronic Cargo Tracking Systems, ECTS, to reduce revenue leakages.
