From Anthony Nwachukwu, Lagos
The Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) review by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency’s (NIMASA) is to ensure that the 296 beneficiaries at the Centurion University, India, get adequate and quality capacity development training to qualify as seafarers employable globally.
Explaining this against the backdrop of some media claims that the agency planned to withdraw the NSDP cadets from the institution, NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said the agency was only conducting due diligence on the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to align the processes in the best interest of the Nigerian students.
NIMASA is “not recalling any NSDP beneficiary from Centurion University. We are only working to close out all identified gaps in the existing Memorandum of Understanding before proceeding to the next stage,” a statement from the Head of Public Relations, Mr. Edward Osagie, quoted him to say.
However, “a situation where the agency entered into a contractual agreement with Springdale Academy of Maritime Education and Training (SAMET) with agreed courses and timelines, only to be faced with additional course duration and an alien programme, the agent unilaterally converting the programme without the consent of the agency as prescribed by the MoU, may not be in the best interest of the students.”
He explained that there were issues of non-accreditation of one of the institutions as at the time of executing the MoU, then a change of course from marine engineering to mechanical engineering without recourse to the agency.
More so, the agent then prepared the grounds for additional years of studies and uncertainties for the students, raised issues related to funding and the various third-party arrangements without duly informing NIMASA, he noted.
According to Mobereola, the NIMASA management is aware of a sponsored media campaign of calumny against the it, but that will not deter the agency from doing the right thing.
“We are aware of orchestrated media campaigns and petitions against the agency reviewing the existing arrangement. We will not give in to blackmail as the safety and wellbeing of our students are paramount.”
The NSDP was introduced in 2009 to develop capacity and bridge the gap of dearth of seafarers globally by training young Nigerians as seafarers. Nigerian youths are trained in specialised courses such as marine engineering, nautical sciences and nautical surveys, among others, to ensure they qualify as seafarers and are employable globally.
