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| Mr. Joshua Okpo, Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron |
What have you done to reposition the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, (MAN), Oron?
It was known as Nautical College of Nigeria, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, located in the Coastal Town of Oron, Akwa Ibom State. It was set up by the Federal Military Government in 1977 to provide the much needed manpower for the maritime industry in Nigeria.
This premier Maritime Academy has over the years, not been able to achieve its full potentials and core objectives due to a combination of inadequate funding, policy summersault of the government and other numerous challenges. These daunting challenges have, over the years deprived the academy of its pride of place in the comity of other similar institutions, not only within the West African sub-region, but also in the entire global maritime arena.
However, things have in the past three and the half years taken a dramatic turn for good in the academy, as the new wind of change is currently blowing across the nooks and crannies of the institution, courtesy my administration.
How have you been able to bring about the change?
The rationale behind the rapid developmental strides in the academy and the wind of is the teamwork spirit between the management, staff and the governing Council. I see myself as a bridge builder. I am currently turning around the fortunes of the institution to the admiration and fulfilment of its founding fathers.
My result-oriented leadership in the Academy has calmed frayed nerves, sanitised the academy and put it on the path of sustainable growth and development. Apart from giving the institution a facelift, the Academy has also earned a global attention in recent times.
For instance, the new Management under my careful watch has vigorously, been upgrading the Academy’s syllabus to conform to the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and other globally acceptable training standards.
In keeping to this guideline, the Academy recently organised a critique workshop to produce an acceptable document for the purpose of training Nigerians in various Maritime-related fields of study, and in line with the global best practices.
What machinery have you put in place to upgrade the Academy to international best standards?
It is the commitment of my administration to upgrade the academy to international best standards, meets the expectation of all relevant stakeholders in the maritime industry and ensures Nigeria remains in the white list of IMO.
The management in collaboration with Chief Adiotomre’s led Governing Council had engaged in fruitful collaborative discussions and Memorandum of Understanding with renowned maritime institution in UK, Sweden, Turkey and South Africa to explore possible areas of interest in the training of cadets for global competitiveness and exchange of programmes.
Cadets who graduated from Maritime Academy of Nigeria, (MAN) Oron are now working in the United Kingdom as Captains, Engineers, Lecturers/Trainers, Consultants, and are also providing excellent maritime services to ship owners.
A lot has been said about the conversion of the academy to a degree-awarding institution. What is your stake on this?
What is more critical in the transformation of MAN Oron is to ensure that the core mandate of the Academy which is to train Marine Engineers and seafarers is that the Academy needs a tripod model of training low level manpower, (Certificate Courses) middle level manpower, (ND programmes) and Higher level manpower (Higher National Diploma and other degree programmes). The most needed qualification in the maritime industry according to International Maritime Organisation, Marine Coastal Guard, Standard of Training Certification and Watch Keeping (STCW) guidelines is the Certificate of Competence (CoC), before other degrees or qualifications could be considered.
It must be clearly emphasized here that MAN, Oron is not a conventional institution, but a very specialised, regimented and highly technical institution, with clear-cut mandate to train and nurture seafarers in line with STCW Convention on the 2010 (MANILA) amendments.
What makes MAN Oron different from other conventional institutions is that cadets require Certificate of Competence (C0C) to go to sea before considering the pursuit of degree, since Certificate of Competence has international acceptance, renewable every six months.
Seafarers who hold degrees without Certificate of Competence are not always valued in the maritime and allied industries as those with CoC.
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Convention, which Nigeria is a member state, makes it mandatory for Certificate of Competence to be accepted beyond the shores of Nigeria, as long as the holder is from a member State of the IMO; but degree would assist the holder in other aspects of Maritime Education and training.
However, for Nigeria to maintain its position in the IMO white list, the much envisaged degree-awarding status for MAN Oron should not follow the NUC model as agitated by few uniformed persons on the dynamics and nitty-gritty of maritime education, but an acceptable global model that combines Certificate, National Diploma, High National Diploma and other degree programmes.
Can you highlight some of your significant milestones and challenges?
My administration has recorded milestones in infrastructural development. There has been a sustained 24-hour power and water supply, with increased security for safety of lives and protection of the Academy’s property, hostel facilities for male and female cadets; staff accommodation, Youth Corps Members’ Lodge, completion of inherited projects, construction of presidential jetty, fire bay, boat maintenance yard, the procurement, installation and fully operational state-of-the-art simulators for practical training of cadets and staff, ICT equipment, which put the Academy in the class of internationally recognised maritime training institutions.
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