…Commences first phase of sea time training …Hails Amaechi’s Commitment to Maritime Growth
L-R: A maritime Stakeholder, Engineer Emmanuel Ilori, Director General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Vice President, Arab Academy For Science, Technology And Maritime Transport, Dr. Alsnosy Balbaa, Executive Director, Maritime Labour & Cabotage Services, NIMASA, Mr. Gambo Ahmed, Executive Director, Finance & Administration, NIMASA, Mr. Bashir Jamoh, Executive Director, Operations, NIMASA Engr. Rotimi Fashakin and another maritime Stakeholder, Barrister Mike Igbokwe, SAN in a photograph with the newly graduated Nigeria Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) Cadets, during the flag off of phase 1 sea time training for the Cadets, organized by NIMASA, in Lagos.
It was an emotional moment yesterday for twenty (20) beneficiaries of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) Cadets that passed out with distinctions in their various fields of study abroad when the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside announced the decision of the Executive Management of the Agency to offer automatic employment to all of them.
Petered who made this known during the flag-off ceremony of the first phase of the NIMASA fully sponsored sea time training for cadets,xpressed delight that hope beckons for the Nigeria maritime sector through this feat.
He noted that sea time berth is a global challenge known to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which Nigeria will deal with squarely with Agency’s determination to ensure that all the cadets in the NSDP scheme get the mandatory sea time training in batches.
While giving a breakdown of the beneficiaries of the programme, he stated “so far the NSDP initiative has produced 243 graduates, 1,600 cadets at various stages of completion of the programme out of which 887 are ready for sea-time training”.
“In the first phase, 150 Cadets under the scheme are bound for Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Marine Transportation in Alexandria, Egypt to commence their mandatory sea-time training, 89 others are bound for the South Tyneside College, United Kingdom for their on-board sea-time training, making it a total of 239 in the first phase of the programme.
“As some of you may already know, berth spaces are not easy to come by, therefore one of the biggest challenges we had was sourcing for berth spaces for the cadets, coupled with the desire of this administration to follow due process in all our dealings. We are pleased that we did not fall into the temptation of taking short cuts at any time, we have therefore engaged various Maritime Training Institutions to provide this essential service”, the DG stated.
Dr. Peterside thanked the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for his support and commitment to the growth of the nation’s maritime sector and assured him of the Agency’s continuous support in his quest to transform the maritime sector.
“Let me profusely thank the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi who has been up and doing about growing the maritime sector in Nigeria and to say to him to count NIMASA as number one supporter and one Agency that will go ahead and support him to turn around the fortunes of the nation’s maritime sector”, Dr. Peterside said.
The NIMASA DG as well thanked Stakeholders and industry players and called on them to continue to partner the Agency in its quest for a robust and more virile maritime sector.
The event was graced by key Stakeholders in the maritime industry who gave various goodwill messages; Barrister Margaret Orakwusi, Barrister Mike Igbokwe, SAN, Mr. Aminu Umar and Engineer Emmanuel Ilori, who all expressed delight at the performance of the Cadets with awards of cash prices to the Cadets with distinctions.
The Cadets were admonished to count themselves privileged and as such should remain good ambassadors of Nigeria in their host countries.
They unanimously commended the Dr. Dakuku Peterside led Management of NIMASA and stating that the decision of the NSDP is a step in the right direction as it will further boost the professional expertise in the Nigeria maritime sector.
The high point of the event was the award of scholarship for Master Degrees by the Arab Academy to three female cadets who had distinctions in their fields of study.
