The Senate Committee on Maritime has expressed worry about the number of seafarers in the country that have remained without jobs, after various training programmes.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Maritime, Hajia Zainab Kure, in an exclusive interview with THISDAY, said among the problems was that many of the seafarers, like the cadets, were yet to be exposed to sea time training as necessary for them to get jobs in any part of the world.
Kure said to address the problem, her Committee has called on the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to go back to their records and find out cadets that are yet to be exposed to sea time training and organise it for them.
She said many of the seafarers that have remained without jobs may not have had sea time training on board ocean going vessels.
“Most of the cadets lack sea time training, and we have challenged NIMASA to go back to their records, all those that they have trained over the years, they have to bring up a list of all of them, and must support them for the sea time training. We believe that with sea time training, they will be offered jobs here and there”, she said.
Kure added, “NIMASA told us it is 18 months of sea time training and that the amount is colossal, and we told them we don’t mind as long as you (NIMASA) have trained them to that level, the exposure for sea time training should not be a problem; because it is worse for you to have trained them to that level and not give them sea time training. You wouldn’t even have taken them out in the first place for the programme”.
However, Kure said the Senate Committee was very concerned about capacity development in the shipping sector, particularly about seafarers’ development programme that is being anchored by NIMASA at the moment.
Source: This Day Live
