Expert Tasks RSG On Seafarers Dev

The Rivers State Government has been urged to embrace the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) aimed at enhancing capacity building in the Maritime sector.

The call was made by a maritime expert, Captain John Ibibo, on Tuesday in an exclusive chat with The Tide at the Port Harcourt Port.

He said that the increase in oil and gas activities  in the state which had majority of its operations on sea, made it imperative for the state, like Rivers to look inward and embrace the programme which has evolved three years ago and conceived to bridge  and redress the dearth of seafarers in Nigeria.

Ibibo, who is a seafarer, and captain on board M/V Brass, maintained that 80 per cent of the activities of the oil companies is maritime-based and that people from other states (non-indigene) dominate the sector, because Rivers people lacked the trained manpower to fit in, saying that “we end up in crying out that oil companies are not employing out indigenes, whereas, these are technical jobs that require expertise as regulated by International Maritime Organisation standards”.

According to him, the NSDP which was introduced by the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is meant to enhance capacity building with a view to bridging the gap in manpower deficit in the maritime sector of the economy.

The initiative, he further said was also a scholarship programme aimed at encouraging Nigerian youths to embrace seafaring careers to enhance efficiency in the maritime industry in the country.

Captain Ibibo said that already, seven states, namely Lagos, Kaduna, Niger, Ondo, Ekiti, Kogi and Benue had so far, embraced the programme.

He asserted that the programme initiative was targeted at building capacity for the entire country to fast track economic growth and development within the industry and other sectors of the economy where government could also benefit in terms of revenue generation in the long run.

He enjoined the Rivers State Government to emulate the other seven states already involved  and send more youths on seafarers training so that the indigenes would have better opportunity to work in the sector

Mr Kunle Folarin, the Acting Chairman, Port Consultative Council (PCC), Lagos, says Nigeria has not taken full advantage of its shipping potential in the last 50 years.

Folarin, a shipping economic analyst , said this in an interview with newsmen recently in Lagos.

He said that Nigeria had immense shipping potential that had yet to be harnessed.

He noted that Nigeria was endowed with a large stretch of coastline and contiguous economic zones within the West and Central Africa sub-region.

“We have great maritime  wealth and resources that could translate into Nigeria becoming a powerful maritime state within the sub-region” Folarin said.

He said  that as an import-dependent country, a large number of ships came to Nigeria annually.

“This suggests that we can build human capacity  in marine navigation, marine engineering, naval architecture and other areas like maritime law”, he said.

Folarin expressed concern that indigenous shipping activities were just about three per cent of the total demand for shipping industries such as ship building and ship-yards which could build small crafts and low tonnage ships.

The shipping economist said the “Cabotage Act 2003 makes it mandatory that all ships in the cabotage areas and the nation’s inland waterways should be fully built in Nigeria.

“We must, therefore, look in future to areas where we have  comparative advantage”, he said.

Folarin said that the nation must look at allied industries such as ship building, dry docking and the possibility of manpower development for seafarers.