The House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety,
Education and Administration has said it will liaise with the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to address all
issues of improper releases to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria,
Oron, in Akwa Ibom State.
It also promised to work with the lawmakers representing the
academy’s communities at the National Assembly to facilitate
further engagement with hostile communities to ensure amicable
resolution of issues promoting attacks on the academy by its host
communities.
Chairman of the committee and member representing Onitsha North
and South constituency at the National Assembly, Mrs Lynda Ikpeazu,
gave the indication when she led the committee on a fact-finding
mission to the academy.
She said the committee would meet with NIMASA to ensure that all
releases due to the academy were promptly and timely released.
Ikpeazu said, “When we look at the budget, we have not seen a
lot of money coming in and so we are determined as a committee to
look into the percentage it gets from NIMASA, and to ensure such
releases are done as and when due.”
She added,” I’m happy that the institution is doing what it is
doing to address the issue of hostile communities through corporate
social responsibility; but as a committee, we are going to work
with our members representing the communities at the National
Assembly to see how we can further engage with the people who are
hostile. The people can benefit a lot from the institution in terms
of employment and other things.”
Ikpeazu said his committee was happy with the level of
transformation at the academy, adding that since the rector took
over in 2017, “there have been a lot of changes and
improvements.”
In his presentation before the committee, the Rector, Air
Commodore Duja Effedua (retd), said he inherited a lot of
challenges, adding that the academy was on the verge of being
delisted by the International Maritime Organisation before he came
in.
He listed the challenges as hostilities by some disgruntled
elements of the host communities; bloated staff strength; admission
of too many cadets, and inadequate number of qualified teaching
staff and training facilities, among others.
Effedua said though there was room for improvement, his
administration had implemented almost all the recommendations of
the Interim Management Committee.
He said he had not only cut down the number of students intake
but had also collaborated with relevant bodies both locally and
Internationally for capacity building of lecturers.
“We have completed and remodelled almost all the abandoned
projects and we have attracted the International Maritime
Organisation and the United Nations Institute for Training,” he
said.
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