It has been observed that expensive hospital equipment worth several millions of naira are among the facilities discovered to be wasting away at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) offices in the Eastern part of the country.

The shock discoveries were made by the Director General of the agency, Dr Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, during a tour of the agency facilities in Eastern Ports. The equipment and tools were said  to have been bought six years ago for the agency’s clinic but were abandoned by former Directors General.

The agency is said to be presently facing human and infrastructural challenges in its medical section. It was also discovered that some of the offices were dilapidated as lack of internet and electricity facility to interface with the head office were also major problems facing its personnel. Akpobolokemi also discovered that several equipment and office equipment were badly damaged in the dilapidated offices; just as he ordered that inventory of the hospital equipment should be taken immediately.

He also directed that all documents should be stored in a software for preservation, and assured the agency co-ordinator of the Eastern Zone, Mr. Olawele Abass, that all the dilapidated offices would be renovated.

According to the NIMASA boss, a new office would be built for the zones, there would be proper upgrade of the facilities, while young graduates with expertise in Information Communication Technology (ICT), would be employed to store all documents piled up in the offices.

The director-general stressed the need to improve the sector by providing necessary things that would grow the industry.

Akpobolokemi declared: “We are going to open up the industry for local players. The unemployed youths can be takencare of by the maritime industry. We have resolved in NIMASA to key into Mr. president’s agenda and the agency is going to be in the forefront in job creation.”

He noted that the greatest medicine to crime is qualitative education and good jobs, and lamented that the sector lacks good maritime institution to train the youths.

“Our Maritime academy is like a child infected with HIV. The agency is engaging the stakeholders to tackle the problem of the sector and we are going to take the sector beyond the imagination of an average Nigerian. If we get NIMASA right, 50 per cent of Nigerian problems would be solved”, he said.

He noted that other maritime nations, especially Phillipines, have taken their maritime sector to greater heights, saying billions of dollars were realised from sea faring  alone.