6 master mariners set to join Maritime Academy
By Seun Ibiyemi
The Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) has revealed that two Master Mariners are set to join the Academy in a week time and four more will be joining in a month time.
Disclosing this in a statement issued on Thursday by the Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (AMANO), the Rector of the Academy, Commodore Duja Efedua (rtd), revealed that the Academy has been able to carry out an upward review of salaries, especially for contracted instructors with special skills, to be able to attract and keep quality personnel with regular training.
According to the Rector while hosting an executive delegation of AMANO, “The Academy now has three Major simulators, which is one of the latest in the world. Multifunctional Classroom Simulation system, Full Mission Bridge Simulation and Full Mission Engine Room Simulation.”
The Rector who also received an award of excellence from the Academy’s Alumni Body commended AMANO for their continuous support to the institution and the entire maritime sector. He also assured that his leadership has a goal to restore the Academy to its proper place as a world-class maritime training institution.
Effedua also expressed delight that most of the problems that bedevilled the institution in the past had been addressed, including the challenges of overcrowding of cadets in hostels and classrooms with a hostel room accommodating up to 18 cadets per room in the past amid poor medical facility and poor transportation system.
Revealing that the Academy was expecting two Master Mariners to join in about a week and four more in the coming months, the MAN Rector said this transformation has resulted in the employment of over 100 members of the host community and assured that more would be employed as things progress.
He also mentioned that the Institution is now ready to start pursuing international certification and as a means to propagate the shipping profession to those who come on an excursion to the school, the Academy is working on a marine exhibition centre.
The Rector went further to opine that one of the reasons for the recorded failures in Certificate of Competency (CoC) is attributed to participants’ inability to attend classes as most of them tried to juggle between retaining their jobs on a ship and attending the CoC classes.
He, however, informed AMANO that the Academy had sent about 15 members of staff to India for training that will close most of the gaps limiting the Academy.
The Rector also seized the opportunity to introduce the newly introduced Security Certificates that addressed the issue of counterfeits, adding that the certificate could also be verified online.
