MAN Trains Foreign Instructors As 2 Expatriate Lecturers Gets Onboard

BY EGUONO ODJEGBA

The Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) has continued to reverberate and reassert itself as the leading regional maritime education and training centre, following the conclusion of a special training programme it provided for four different foreign institutions.

Some of MAN’s state-of-the-art training facilities

Authoritative sources at the Academy located at Oron, Akwa Ibom State, confirmed that a training on international maritime organization, IMO Model Course 6.09 was provided for Instructors from JABEEB Consult Ltd., AvantGuard Security Solution, Marojion Marine and Maritech Academy, all of whom came from across the country to upgrade and sharpen their teaching skills.

The two-week train-the-trainer programme, which graduated  about thirteen participants, was designed to facilitate  delivery of training in the competence  standards as required by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), for Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 1978, as amended, including 2010 Manila Amendments.

Also confirming the development, MAN Rector, Commodore Duja Emmanuel Effedua (Rtd), who has demonstrated unwavering commitment towards enhancing manpower capacity for the success of the blue economy stated that the aim was to fast track the development of the blue economy in line with presidential priorities, especially now that the future is blue.

He has continuously maintained that the Academy is not in competition with anyone further note that the development underscores the Academy’s openness to collaborations with other maritime institutions that may have the need of utilising the institution’s state-of-the-art training facilities to bolster the learning experiences of their workforce.

Commodore Effedua  stressed that the Academy would continue to expand its horizon to accommodate emerging trends in the industry.

“We are not in competition with other maritime institutions, for the sake of national development of our maritime operations, we are open to discussions with similar institutions that may wish to take advantage of our equipment to improve on their training at discounted rate”, he said.

The Rector further highlighted recent developments at the Academy to include the employment of two industry experts of Indian nationals – Commander Narayan Subramaniam and Sudabathula Sravan Kumar to boost the Academy’s teaching workforce and pledged to continuously update operations to ensure the institution meets and exceeds its objective and expectations.

Cadets of MAN in classroom activity

The Commodore also hinted that being an international institution, the Academy has trained up to fourteen participants from allied nations and that it is poised to continue to do more to enhance the manpower development for the maritime industry,  especially now that Nigeria is in the middle of efforts to operationalize its blue economy.

“We have already trained over fourteen participants from allied nations. We are eager to do more within our capacity to supercharge manpower development that would unlock the full potential of the blue economy.

Commodore Effedua receiving standing ovation during a recent Cadets graduation ceremonyat the Academy’s auditorium

“The perception about the Academy is totally different now, if anyone who has not been to the Academy in the last three years comes today, there might definitely be some sort of disorientation, because it has been totally transformed. It is a complete departure from what it was in the past, “ he noted.

One of the participants, Mr. Ojokojo Matthew of AvantGuard Security Solutions Ltd., said, “Academy’s instructors are well grounded knowledge-wise and the quality of teaching facilities are top-notch.

“I must say, for an organisation of this capacity run by the government, I am really impressed. Even more impressive is the knowledge base of the lecturers. The interactive sessions we had were expository, the lecturers were able to dig into residual knowledge and give us a lot of scenarios and hands-on experiences. Indeed, my expectations have been defied,” he said.

The trainees and staff of MAN in a group picture

Also speaking, the Managing Director of JABEEB Consult Ltd.,  Engr. Augustine Juweto, who expressed his admiration for the Academy’s serene and conducive learning environment, comparing it with what is applicable abroad, said, “Years back when I came here for some courses the facilities were moribund, now I can comfortably say that there is one hundred percent transformation of all the facilities, the environment is serene and conducive to learning, this is comparable to what is applicable outside this country. The Rector has done wonderfully well, I want to really commend his efforts.”

It will be recalled that the Academy has a track record of training officials and students of several other organisations and MTIs namely: Bricks Mursten Mattoni, Joe Marine, Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State among others.