Nigeria’s Quest For IMO Council Seat: Place of Maritime Training

BY EGUONO ODJEGBA

The Honourable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Marine & Blue Economy (FMMBE), His Excellency Adegboyega Oyetola, at a recent interactive engagement with maritime news editors and publishers under the auspices of the League of Maritime Editors (LOME) repudiated suggestions that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) has a role in revenue generation.

MAN Ag Rector, Okonna

Versed in political and system governance, Oyetola explained that the sole mandate of MAN in addition to the other private sector driven maritime academies in the country is strictly for manpower development training in seafaring.

Clarifying the position of the Academy he said, “The Maritime Academy of Nigeria is the training arm of the Ministry. It is doing an excellent job in equipping professionals with the expertise needed to drive our maritime economy, forward.”

Earlier at the 2024 Cadets Graduation Ceremony of MAN in December, the Honourable Minister pledged government’s commitment to supporting the Ademy’s progress in the training of qualified maritime personnel.

Represented by the Director in charge of Maritime Safety and Security, Mr. Babatunde Bombata, the Honourable Minister also expressed his satisfaction with the pace of progress made by the Academy; even as he charged the leadership, management and cadets to embrace innovation in meeting with present trends in national, regional and international seafaring.

“Dear graduating cadets, l urge you to embrace innovation, resourcefulness and forward thinking in your endeavours. The marine economic sector is teeming with opportunities and your contributions will be instrumental in shaping a brighter future. The government remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering excellence and innovations in this field and do jointly anticipate the big impact you’ll make in your careers.

” I commend this institution and all other centres of excellence in the marine education and training.Together, we can harness the potentials of our marine and blue economy to serve as a vital pillar of the national economy”, he said.

Meanwhile, MAN Acting Rector, Dr. Kevin Okonna says the Academy remains one of the leading maritime training institutions in the world, operating at the standard of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Explaining the capacity progress made in the area of faculty and academic infrastructure/facilities, standard teaching ambience, cadets leaning and mental wellbeing, Okonna said the Academy is well positioned to continue to support Nigeria’s quest in the international arena, including the country’s current desire to contest membership of the IMO Council Category C Seat.

Pundits believe that with the Ministry and the Academy on the same page, Nigeria’s chances at the forthcoming IMO election appears very bright, as both hopefully will continue to pursue and engender greater synergy towards improving on already attained competences through a sustained atmosphere of mutual trust and stability; political, administration, operation, technical and in all frontiers of developmental indices.

Founded in 1977 as Nautical College and later upgraded and rechristened as the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in 1988, through the promulgation of Decree 16, the Academy is listed in the IMO White list and compliant with the STCW 1978 Convention 2010, as amended.

In this regard, the Academy has always remained the pivot in Nigeria’s quest to be recognised internationally as  the centre of excellence in maritime training, through churning out quality Seafarers that can compete favourably with their counterparts in the world maritime space.

This is self evident in the roll-call of thousands of ex-cadets of MAN who are making great exploits in their chosen field of endeavours in various parts of the world including America, Europe and Asia.

Until recently the Academy which was under the watch of Commodore Duja Effedua (Rtd), has proven to be the strongest and most forward looking arm of the nation’s maritime industry, with Dr. Kevin Okonna playing key, important roles.

Overall, the Academy has invested heavily in human capacity building, in the provision of the state -of -the arts training facilities as well as development of relevant infrastructure in fulfillment of its core mandate. With Dr. Kevin Okonna, in insider and a through bred maritime academic, presently in charge, the horizon looks even brighter, speaking about Nigeria’s quest for the IMO Council Seat just before the end of this year.

CURRICULUM

MAN operates a range of mandatory and professional courses including maritime transport and business studies, nautical science, marine engineering; with professional courses covering maritime safety and security etc, all designed to cater for shipboard officers and ratings in shore-based management cadre.

LEARNING FACILITIES

The Academy boasts of a fairly large assembly of training facilities including the latest modern simulators for training. They include the Multifunctional Classroom Simulator that handles up to 13 courses; the High Voltage, Dynamic Positioning, Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS); Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS): ARPA/RADAR; the Bridge Watch-keeping – Preparatory Course (BWPC); and Ship Maneuvering Simulator Course (SMSC) etc.

While the  Full Mission Bridge and Full Mission Deck simulates real life engine room and deck experience respectively,the Ocular Vision, when worn on the head, launches the user into a virtual engine room where he or she can carry out all seafaring and navigational functions as though at sea.

It must be stated that Nigeria is among the first 5 countries in the world to have this modern, training simulation technology. There are four Survival Training Swimming Pools for Cadets hands on seaborne experience, with the complement of a Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) equipment, used for the training of military personnel, offshore oil and gas industry staff, law enforcement personnel and helicopter flight crews. It is aimed at preparing them for emergency exit in the event of a crash landing on water.

 Friendly Learning Ambience

In the past seven years, the Academy leadership also raised the standard of learning atmosphere by carrying out an extensive classroom upgrade and remodeling to achieve smart lecture classrooms and auditoriums.

The result has since witnessed the steady traffic of foreign students and sister institutions coming to the Academy to either expand their knowledge and or secure particular, professional training and courses of learning.

 CADETS RATING

Cadets of the Academy are among the best trained in the world, and better rated, with quite a number of them as members of prestigious professional maritime bodies such as the Nautical Institute and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), both in the United Kingdom.

They get trained up to degree equivalent of HND in the field of Nautical Studies, Engineering (Marine and Electrical/Electronics) and Maritime Transport Studies,  undergoing both theoretical and practical hands-on experience in seaborne competencies.

QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS TRAINERS

The Academy has in it’s employ a retinue of professionals lecturers and trainers drawn from within and outside the country to boost the training capacity.

RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS

While the Academy has continued to play significant role in addressing the dearth of seafarers supply on board ships over the years, in 2019, MAN won the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) ‘Best Maritime Trainer Award’.

It is to be noted that under the strict supervision of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Academy has in the past seven years regained its superior academic reputation while its cadets are being accorded respect within and outside the industry.

In line with the specific and general mandate of the FMMBE, the Academy has also stood in the gap to block the shortfall in the requirement for indigenous seafarers to drive the country’s Cabotage Law which requires a near total local content labour onboard every vessel under the coastal trade.

 CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY

His Excellency Adegboyega Oyetola who have repeatedly reaffirmed the Federal Government‘s unwavering  commitment towards transforming Nigeria into Africa’s leading maritime hub by leveraging the on the vast potentials of the blue economy, has also pledge to ensure that NIMASA and MAN works out a quick turn-around blueprint to raise the international acceptance of Nigerian Seafarers by ensuring that cadets do better in their CoC examination; to further enhance their employment opportunities at the international labour market.

The Minister not only said that he has given standing directives about the strengthening of regulatory frameworks but is also closely monitoring performances across the tables of deliverables.

“The vision of the Ministry is to ensure that the country’s marine resources are harnessed sustainably to position Nigeria as a premier maritime nation, so in order to lay a solid foundation for this vision, the Ministry, through a multi-layered stakeholders’ engagement and consultation, has crafted a National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy,” he said.

Qualified, tested, trusted and performing, critical maritime stakeholders believe that given all the necessary support and encouragement, the Acting Rector of MAN, Okonna will continue to stand in strongly not only in projecting Nigeria’s scorecard in maritime training, but also, through ensuring that the Honourable Minister and his directors and principal managers gets the right input and provided competent and guided advise on issues appertaining to training evaluations that will support the nation’s cause as she prepares to contest the 2025 IMO Council Seat; slated for December.