NIMASA expands seafarers training scope

NIMASAs seafarers training boosts Nigeria-Philippines relations

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has expanded the scope of seafarers’ training in faraway Philippines, where more than 1,000 Nigerians are currently undergoing training.

The training is a component of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), an intervention programme designed to address the manpower requirements in the country’s maritime sector. NIMASA has spent about N20 billion to train 2,500 seafarers under the programme from 2011 to 2015. Dr Patrick Akpobolokemi, the Director-General of NIMASA, confirmed the expenditure after the payment of the 2015 training fees of the cadets in various maritime institutions across the world. He said that the amount included training fees, allowances, cost of laptops, books and other learning gadgets. In 2009, NIMASA initiated the NSDP with the aim of developing human capacity and bridging the manpower gaps existing in the maritime industry.

The NSDP is a scholarship scheme, which is jointly funded by NIMASA and state governments in the ratio of 40 per cent to 60 per cent. Recently, some NIMASA officials and journalists undertook a tour of three universities in the Philippines, which are handling the training of Nigerian cadets under the NSDP. Observers are quick to point out that the Philippines is home to 28 per cent of the total population of seafarers in the world.

Source: The Nigerian Observer