By Ajibola Adedoye
Contrary to report making round in the media, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has not recalled of over 300 cadets from the National Seafarers Development Program (NSDP) currently enrolled at Centurion University in India.
Dr. Dayo Mobereola, NIMASA’s Director-General who made this clarification in his chat with maritime media practitioners in Lagos on Monday, August 12, 2024 stated that “We have not said that those students are coming back, what we are doing is that we are reviewing the processes of how the school has been engaged. It is for the benefit of the students, they are going to be good product when they become graduates of those universities.
“I am sure you will agree with me that you don’t want to live up with your resources and effort to send students abroad, only for the students to come back half-baked that will not be employable by the industry. So it’s all of these issues that are on our table right now. And there is no single day that we do not look at it and I can assure you, by the time we come out with the best way of the best approach to deal with it, you will know that we are doing it firstly, interest of those cadets are not ourselves” Dr. Mobereola maintained.
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On the issue of modular floating job, the NIMASA Boss said “it’s a responsibility that has come to us and we are not shying away from it. In fact, as at last week, Thursday, we physically went to have a look at it.
“Many proposals had been on the table, but we want to be sure. I understand something, that a good decision is better than a perfect decision. However, a no decision is not good at all, so we want to put the modular floating dock into use as soon as possible for it to be able to generate revenue for the country to help develop our cadets to help and
revenue and employment for the maritime sector so we need to do it right” he posited.
While speaking on
Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), Dr. Mobereola pointed out that “If you remember 20 to 25 years ago, when some of these resources were dispersed. They were either lost or given to the wrong people. Secondly, there was no benefit to the nation and there was no benefit to the ship owners who were contributing it. So in this case, we are looking at opportunities to ensure that the CVFF, when we start to disburse it, it will be for the benefit of shipping promotion in Nigeria, and it will not be a start and stop process. It will be something that would help us to continually develop the sector. So it’s those strategies that we are working and looking at.
“Bearing in mind that the strategies or decisions taken 20 years ago has been surpassed. So there are many other opportunities now, and we will be doing ourselves injustice if we don’t put into consideration what is happening now, not only in Nigeria, but internationally, before we start discussing this, CVFF which is not about vessels alone. It’s about the demand. What exactly is this vessels going to be carrying? So we are also working on the issue of ensuring there will be steady cargoes for the vessels, so the vessels will not be lying fallow, but will be making revenue for the sector.
“So in some of these that we are looking at, there was also a question on the COC, which is the training of the cadets. Again, bear with us, it is just too early for us to put these options out here without engaging fully and having a water tight agreement with the people who are going to train these cadets on the sea training part of it.
“I have read about the benefits of the seafarers in Philippines, and India, where we know that the seafarers contribute and repatriate $26 billion annually back to the country, are they receiving training better than our own Nigerians cadets? The answer is no, our cadets are hardworking and intelligent, once they get the right training, right certification and the good thing is, the international shipping industry is even looking for very, very good seafarers. So it’s an opportunity for us.
Dr. Mobereola while calling for collaboration with maritime media practitioners in pushing the agency to lofty heights said he’s ready to furnish the media with necessary information for their reportage.
According to him, “you all have access to data that is within our domain, or where we can lay our hands on data and give you to write, we need you to project it into industry in the right way, in the right manner, to place the industry for what it is. For instance in Namibia, the blue economy, contributes 33% to the GDP, now it is actually 65% and we have all the resources in our maritime domain to do better.
On the issue of misconception between NIMASA, Shippers’ Council and NPA, Dr. Mobereola tasked media practitioners to be more proactive in educate the public with the right information.
He said “You as stakeholders, as much as we recognize some of this misconception, but the most important thing is that when we go forward and speak, they will look at us as speaking with bias, but when you speak, they look at you as speaking for industry and for the best practices.
“So I would encourage you to please continue to pick up this and compare it with the international practices, and tell us what we should be doing, what NPA should be doing, what Shippers Council should be doing, although we are all brothers, but at the same time we were sisters, but we need to know where our boundaries are so that we can all operate together for the benefit of the blue economy ministry and for the country as a whole” he concluded.
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