Maritime industry to overcome manpower challenge in 10 years – NIMASA

Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, director general, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has projected that the nation’s maritime industry should be able to overcome its present challenge of inadequate qualified manpower in ten years’ time if the current level of training of seafarers, dockworkers, engineers, captains and other categories of personnel needed for the industry’s operations is sustained.

His postulation is coming as industry workers under the aegis of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MUWN) have lauded the Federal Government and the management of NIMASA for staying focused on training and retraining of personnel towards bridging the human capacity gap within the industry.

Akpobolokemi speaking to BusinessDay, Wednesday in Lagos, said with the encouragement of President Goodluck Jonathan, NIMASA collaborating with other related maritime bodies, has not shied away from its statutory responsibility of training industry personnel, noting that thousands had trained in various aspects of maritime operations within and outside Nigeria, in what aims at building capacity for the industry.

He noted that if the pace is kept, which NIMASA intends to, Nigeria, ten years from now, should not be complaining of lack of inadequate qualified manpower, but should be in a position to export maritime experts to other countries.

Lauding the Federal Government in this regards, Nted Emmanuel, president-general of MWUN, said during a solidarity walk in Apapa that seafarers and dockworkers are beneficiaries of continuous training programmes in the industry, as over 2,000 have been trained.

JOSHUA BASSEY