Maritime education: Academy appeals to govt

The Lagos Aviation and Maritime Business Academy (LAMBACADY), has appealed to the Federal Government to encourage the development of private maritime institutions in Nigeria. Its Rector, Dr. Emeka Udow, made the appeal during an interactive session in Lagos. He commended the efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for establishing a training programme for Nigerian youths on seafaring. Udow said: “But what we want NIMASA to do is to encourage the development of private institutions in Nigerian and not to encourage training of seafarers and master mariners outside the country. He said that there were over five maritime training institution in Nigeria good enough for training. Udow stressed that the private maritime institutions in the country needed the support of the agency to enable them train seafarers.

The rector explained: “What we actually wanted is government intervention, so that we can be able to upgrade our facilities to international standard.” He said that the country must improve on the technical skills of its workforce to enable Nigeria to compete with other maritime nations. Udow said that the country lacks chief seafarers, captains, master mariners, marine engineers and ship builders. “These are areas that we still lack manpower,” he said. Udow said that government could assist the private maritime institution through provision of intervention funds and provide subsidy for training vessel.