The Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State has a completely new structure in place to give its present and future cadets world-class training obtainable anywhere else.
A carefully and professionally-handled re-engineered architecture of the Academy has ensured that the school now has in place suitable classrooms, teaching aids, laptops for each student and a library stocked with relevant books, a number of which were received courtesy of the International Maritime Organisation(IMO).
With its redesign, the Academy has succeeded in creating a manageable Cadet population size , with not more than 25-30 students in a class for learning, while it now proudly has no fewer than 13 experienced marine engineers on its teaching list of staff amongst other lecturers.
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For a start, the reduction of a former students’ intake of 1800 to 256 has sanitised the system, considering that every student has the necessary attention and access to conducive learning spaces.
In repositioning the Academy for excellence, the Management headed by the Rector, Commodore Emmanuel Effedua(Rtd.), sought the input of the IMO, the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES) as well as from the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) for a thorough review of the training curriculum to meet current demands.
For a robust leaning experience, the National Diploma cadets now go through onboard seatime experience, as 59 of them are currently on such training on facilities owned by Nigerian Ship-owners.
Like the cadets, members of staff also have a new experience with improved welfare, opportunities for further studies/capacity training.
While the Academy has further secured its certificate with additional security features to check certificate racketing, which had been a problem in the past, it has also recorded a significant mileage in training about 3000 external students between January and September 2019.
With concluded plans for further equipping the Academy with more training aids, a modern Simulator is expected to be delivered in about 15 weeks’ time. Also, it will acquire a diving tank, and a facility for helicopter underwater escape training.
More lecturers would be engaged and further efforts would be made to get international recognition after quality assurance audit of facilities and other resources. In like manner, efforts are on to collaborate with other maritime institutes around the world.
Students have in the last two years enjoyed the comfort of having standard and conducive accommodation. However, on completion of a new set of hostel accommodation, the students would begin to enjoy the comfort of being in a two-man room.
Until 2017 when the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, set up an interim management committee to access the Academy for infrastructure and academic performance, the school
suffered a lot of set-back.
suffered a lot of set-back.
The Academy suffered as a result of poor facilities, lack of competent teaching staff, bloated cadet population, irregularities in requisite qualification for admission, as well as misplaced priorities in application of its resources.
A tour of the Academy shows a reorganised system fit and prepared for doing what it was established for, requisite manpower development for the maritime industry, seafarers who would be equipped with relevant knowledge to drive industry operations.
