The director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dayo Mobereola, has restated the Agency’s commitment to the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

The NIMASA DG stated that the 296 NSDP beneficiaries at Centurion University, India will be given adequate capacity development to acquire quality training and qualify as Seafarers employable globally.

He, however, described media reports claiming that the Agency plans to withdraw the NSDP cadets from the Centurion University India as false, adding that the Agency is only carrying out due diligence on the existing MoU to align the processes in the best interest of the Nigerian students.

According to the DG, the agency is working assiduously to close all identified gaps in the existing Memorandum of Understanding before proceeding to the next stage.

“We are not recalling any NSDP beneficiary from Centurion University.

We are only working to close out all identified gaps in the existing Memorandum of Understanding before proceeding to the next stage.

“A situation where the Agency entered into a contractual agreement with Springdale Academy of Maritime Education and Training (SAMET) with agreed courses and timelines only to be faced with additional course duration and an alien programme by the agent. SAMET, unilaterally converting the programme without the consent of the Agency as prescribed by the MoU may not be in the best interest of the students,” he stated.

Speaking further, he said, “there were issues of non-accreditation of one of institution as at the time of the execution of MoU, change of course from Marine engineering to Mechanical engineering without recourse to the Agency, preparing the grounds for additional years of studies and uncertainties for the students, raising issues related to funding, and the various third-party arrangements without duly informing the Agency.”

The NIMASA DG also noted that the Management of NIMASA is aware of a sponsored media campaign of calumny against the NIMASA Management stating that it will not deter NIMASA from doing the right thing.

“We are aware of orchestrated media campaigns and petitions against the agency reviewing the existing arrangement. We will not give in to blackmail as the safety and wellbeing of our students are paramount.”

The Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme was introduced in 2009 to develop capacity by training young Nigerians as seafarers and bridge the gap of dearth of seafarers globally.

Nigerian youths are trained in specialised courses such as Marine Engineering, Nautical Sciences and Nautical Surveys amongst others, to ensure they qualify as Seafarers and are employable globally.