Nigeria has Maritime Institutions That Can Train Cadets to Highest Level—-Greg Ogbeifun
A Nigerian shipowners and Chairman of Starz Group, Eng Greg Ogbeifun has said that Nigeria does not have a problem of training and certification of cadets, rather the only challenge is lack of vessels.
Ogbeifun who spoke with newsmen on the sidelines of a one day Symposium organised by Mission to Seafarers (MTS Lagos) last week said there are training institutions in Nigeria that can train cadets to the highest level.
Speaking, the pioneer president of Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) said “We have maritime institutions that are accredited by international maritime organisations that are on the white list, our training is recognised to the extent that we need as a nation, when you are talking about global trade certification, that’s a different thing”
“For a country that does not have global trading ships, the emphasis should be on getting the ships first, before we begin to worry about global trading and indigenes for international certification”
“Because, what you are doing is that, you are exporting the manpower that should be in our country, and other nations are benefitting from the cadets we have trained but are not working for us, they are working elsewhere”
“So, the emphasis should be how do we establish our national fleet that would trade globally, these ships would now be the ones that would train and employ Nigerians with international certification.
“But for our Cabotage trade, we have institutions here that can train to the highest level ” he stated
