Master Mariner, Capt Ojutalayo Knocks NIMASA for Spending Over N20 Billion on NSDP Training Scheme, Calls for Investment in Local Institutions

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Capt. Fola Ojutalayo, a seasoned maritime expert and Master Mariner has raised serious concerns regarding the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) spearheaded by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) saying that the agency has so far expended more than N20 billion on the scheme which includes taking Nigerian cadets overseas for maritime training.

Speaking as one of the panelists at the 16th Marine Technical Summit of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES) in Lagos on Thursday, Capt Ojutalayo questioned the wisdom of sending cadets abroad for training when local institutions could be empowered to produce world-class maritime professionals.

“Why can’t we invest that money in two institutions, train them here, and then reverse the structure?” Ojutalayo asked, pointing out the disparity between the funds spent on foreign training and the lack of support for local maritime schools such as the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) in Oron, Akwa Ibom State and the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology in Lagos.

According to him, the two maritime institutions in Nigeria have been churning out cadets every year without meaningful employment, this according to him could contribute to the rising state of piracy and sea robbery across the country.

“Today, NIMASA is sponsoring a lot of cadets abroad to go and train on NSDP, while we have government-owned two institutions churning out cadets every year.

“The last time I checked, we have spent over N20 billion on those troops. Why can’t we invest that money in two institutions, train them here, and then reverse the structure? If as a nation, we are not issuing Class 1, I would have expected that perhaps the people that we should be sending abroad to train are the top echelon that we don’t have here, not the same thing that we are producing.

“And now, we have a lot of people finishing from Oron every year, finishing from Oceanography every year, and then tomorrow we say that there is piracy in our waters, when you are training professionals that are going to be jobless at the end of the day” he said

Ojutalayo emphasized that Nigeria’s maritime sector is suffering from a lack of recognition and reciprocity on the global stage due to internal and external political dynamics.

He highlighted the limitations imposed by the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) on Nigerian seafarers, which have allowed foreign nations like India to capitalize on the situation to the detriment of Nigerian professionals.

“When Nigeria started implementing the STCW in 2002, we limited our people. The highest certificate that was being issued in Nigeria then was taken down to a maximum of 3,000 kilowatts for engineers, maximum of 3,000 GRT for officers, And at that time, you have people who are already taking vessels with home trade license of sizes of 10,000, 20,000 suddenly dropped and were limited to that 3,000”

“The Indians took note of it and came into our clime to take advantage of that.”

“They quickly formed management companies, sold it to our ship owners, telling them that they are experts. A lot of our ship owners bought into it. The Indians came around and they took the advantage of discriminating against our certificates and against our seafarers, telling them that they are not certified, meanwhile, these are people with experience.
But you were told that you are not certified to take on those ships that you have been taking for years. That brought about the influx of foreigners.

“As for the politics of shipping, every nation adopt a system that is protectionist in nature.
Every maritime nation that has grown, that’s what they do, but in Nigeria, we are not adopting it, that is where the politics comes in and the diplomacy”

“Another mistake that we have made as a nation is in the area of reciprocity. There was a time in NIMASA where I saw a list of countries whose COC (Certificate of Competency) are not recognized in Nigeria, and in that list, I saw Panama, in that list, I saw Liberia and many other countries.

“You see, we tend to underestimate the power of some of these countries when it comes to maritime power. Liberia may be our next door neighbor here. Nigeria may be called or referred to as giant of Africa. But when it comes to maritime, Liberia is a world power. As a nation, even if you have to discriminate, you don’t come openly to discriminate against such world power in maritime, because they will go behind, they will also conspire against you and they will frustrate your system.

“So, we need to understand how to play this politics and we need to understand this diplomacy” he said

He also criticized the lack of a unified approach within Nigeria’s maritime institutions, leading to inter-agency rivalry and a failure to adopt protectionist policies that could bolster the sector.

“Why is NIMASA not employing the same NCV COC holders that they issue? These internal politics of discrimination have being watched by the outside world. Shipowners are seeing it, if you don’t recognize your own, why will others recognize you? Why won’t they help you to discriminate against it” Ojutalayo remarked, pointing to the self-sabotaging tendencies within the Nigerian maritime industry.

Ojutalayo called for depoliticization and stronger collaboration among maritime agencies to foster growth and self-sufficiency in the sector.

“It is high time the professionals in the industry come together, and we have to unite,” he said, emphasizing the need for unity and strategic investment to elevate Nigeria’s maritime industry on the global stage.