FG sets up committee to address rot in Maritime Academy Oron

The Federal Government has decried the rot at the Maritime Academy of Nigerian (MAN) Oron, Akwa Ibom and has set up an interim management committee to revamp the premier maritime training institution in the country.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who inaugurated the interim management committee, yesterday, in Abuja said the level of decay at the MAN was shameful and that he wants to be remembered as the minister that fixed the rot.

The Chairman, Interim Management Committee on Maritime Academy of Nigerian (MAN), Mr. Adebayo Sarumi, told newsmen in an interview that they have six months to implement and hand over to the substantive management.

“We will work with the substantive rector that has just been appointed. We want to reposition the Maritime Academy Oron on what is expected to be its mission. We will create a vision for it.

“Maritime education is universal in nature. It is not an education for one corner because they are being trained for world shipping. World shipping is the same globally. The demand is safer seas and very efficient seamanship. That simply means that those who will work on those ships must be well trained.

“The lacuna we found in the Maritime Academy Oron is that they seemed to have lost focus as to what ideally they should have been doing,” he explained.

The chairman also noted that they are focused on making sure Nigeria stopped training its maritime manpower abroad.

“You probably have read where NIMASA sent people to Singapore and other places to study but we don’t want that going forward. We want to train them at home to be proficient in seamanship, whether nautical or engineering,” he said.