Despite the massive investment in training of seafarers by the Federal Government championed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), indigenous ship owners have joined foreigners in prioritising those with foreign certification over Nigeria.
Daniel Ikueyemi, a seafarer, who disclosed this at the weekend during an interview with Maritime TV, posited that the poor feedback mechanism at NIMASA had deprived the agency of the true impact of the investment in seafarers’ development.
According to him, most seafarers trained under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) are at the verge of the expiration of their Certificates of Competence (CoC), without any resources to renew them because they never had the opportunity of going onboard vessels.
Ikueyemi however called on NIMASA to create a seafarers’ desk at the agency with the onus of receiving valuable information and experiences of seafarers’ onboard vessels.
“NIMASA shouldn’t allow their resources to be wasted. The duration of CoC is five years and it becomes useless if one doesn’t utilise it during that time frame. Imagine the millions of dollars that have been spent on NSDP already,” he said.
He said: “Every Nigerian that goes to have his or her CoC outside the country already understands the issue of discrimination. It has become a common thing for us. Discrimination against those operating with Nigerian CoCs has become the norm.”
Ikueyemi who is also Marine Engineer and a product of NSDP, called on NIMASA to have Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with several countries for seafarers’ engagement, especially African nations.
“We shouldn’t only focus on the Western countries for such partnerships. There are lots of African nations in dire need of seafarers and we can start from Africa. The essence of having MoUs with African nations shouldn’t only be to lobby for IMO Council elections. Nigerian seafarers can have the privilege to work in other African countries with these MoUs,” he said.
He also pointed out the need to improve the quality of Nigerian CoCs to eliminate forgery, noting that globally, there is a perception that Nigerian CoCs can be easily forged, which further reduces their value.
He however lamented the long waiting time for results of CoCs which takes almost one year in Nigeria, whereas other nations complete the process in one week or one month, at most.
