From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said it has concluded plans for the commencement of the training of 250 Nigerian cadets, in line with its mandate of developing capacity for the Nigerian maritime industry.
NIMASA said the training is in keeping with one of the three performance pillars of the Director General, Dr Bashir Jamoh, known as Shipping Development.
The Special Assistant on Communication and Strategy to the DG, Mr Ubong Essien, disclosed this on Tuesday at a media parley at the Agency’s Eastern Zonal office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Essien, who represented the DG, noted that Dr Jamoh had at the inception of his administration in March 2020, outlined a triple ‘S’ agenda of Maritime Security, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development.
‘The NIMASA boss was committed to ensuring that adequate capacity for the industry was built to ensure economic prosperity through the maritime domain. While some of the cadets are due for sea-time training, others will undergo the mandatory CoC and will be trained in the Philippines, UK and Romania. According to the Agency, these 250 cadets represent just the first of three batches planned for future training,’ he said.
Also present at the parley was the chief host, the Eastern Zonal Coordinator and Director, Mallam Sani Audu, who encouraged the media to engage more with the agency at the zonal level in order to educate the Nigerian public on some of the major interventions of the zone, especially in the area of removal of water hyacinth to ensure safer navigational channels for ships and vessels.
Audu added that the zone ensures removal of marine litter and plastics clearing for the restoration of the cleanness of the waters the at various hotspot locations such as Okutukutu, Epie-Oxbow creek, Otubhi-Elebele Ogbia, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Port Harcourt to Bonny axis (Rivers State), Otamiri-Nworie River in Imo State, Idundu-Calabar axis in Cross River and Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State.