NIMASA Boss Says NSD Programme Tackles Dearth of Seafarers

Mr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, director general, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has highlighted that the underlying principle of his administration through the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), is to lay a solid foundation for the growth and development of the maritime sector of the country.

The DG  disclosed this in Lagos, stating that there has been a serious dearth of human resources, required to develop the potentials of the maritime industry which he said, surpasses the benefits of crude oil.

“This is the sole aim of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP)”, he said.

In 2008, NIMASA conceived the NSDP with the aim of solving the problem of human resources in the maritime industry occasioned by the dearth of seafarers in the country.

The NSDP was therefore designed to train Nigerian youths in some of the best maritime training institutions abroad, up to degree level, especially in Marine Engineering, Nautical Sciences and Naval Architecture.

“Today, NIMASA has trained about 2,505 seafarers spread across the country in various institutions world over. This is apart from the effective policing of both the nation’s blue and muddy waters through private partnership modern technologies.

“In the nearest future, the nation’s maritime sector would be better for it”, he said, adding that whatever NIMASA was observed to have achieved now was in vision for future benefits, noting that the major problems with Nigerians in position of authority was the implementation of short sighted, rather than futuristic programmes.