Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Commodore Duja Effedua (Rtd), has explained that even as the Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (AMANO) means well for the Academy and Nigeria’s maritime industry, contacting the management before making public statements on issues concerning the operations of the Academy would have been desirable.
For the records, AMANO had earlier briefed newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, on some concerns in the maritime industry, with particular interest on the need for intervention funding to boost engagement of more professionals in the training of cadets at the Academy.
The Rector said that for the avoidance of controversies and sending of wrong signals to the general public, AMANO which has unfettered access to Management of the Academy should have sought the Management’s position on the number of lecturers at the Academy, prior to its media statement.
Speaking on the development, the Rector said: “There was neither exodus nor shortage of lecturers at the Academy. The Academy has over 13 lecturers with Doctorate Degrees and another 20 with Masters Degrees. Many other professionals including those who have had experiences in operations within the Maritime industry are in the Academy too- the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Ports Authority etc.
“Highly qualified expatriates are among our teaching staff and we are expecting at least four more expatriates to join the teaching staff before the end of the first quarter. We are also in talks with the Association of Master Mariners and their Engineering counterparts to seek the support of training activities at the institution.”
While agreeing with AMANO that maritime education is expensive, the Rector noted that the Academy has approached AMANO and other maritime professionals to support training activities at the Academy.
He said: “We have had discussions with members of AMANO on coming to lecture at the Academy. We hope they will take up the challenge.
“The AMANO president was with us during our last passing Out Parade, POP, and he made contributions and very useful suggestions to developments at the Academy. So l want to believe that he was misquoted.
“No matter how emotional we are on issues, there is need for balance and objectivity in order not to mislead the public.
“Stakeholders who were at our recent PoP are aware that we have foreign lecturers who have applied to come and lecture at the Academy. Even as we speak, we are working on processing their visas and other travel documents so that they can come and join our team of lecturers at the Academy.
“I want to reassure maritime stakeholders, oil and gas professionals that there is no cause for worry. We have the lecturers and very modern and sophisticated training Simulators on ground at the Academy for any kind of training they require either for their personal development or staff training” the Rector said.
He, however, added that: “But like ‘Oliver Twist’ we will always want more specialists onboard to support our operations.”
