By Edu Atting
The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Safety and Administration Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has said the Agency has received a donation of $2.4 million, which amounts to N994.8 million, from the Japanese government to support its Deep Blue Project.
Jamoh, who stated this in a recent interview with journalists, also disclosed that the government of South Korea has also donated a warship to NIMASA.
The Deep Blue Project, which is also called Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Defence, and is being implemented by NIMASA.
According to Jamoh, “our Deep Blue Project, the SPOMO Act enacted by the National Assembly, the convictions of criminals under the SPOMO Act, the commitment of the Nigerian Navy and other military arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces, not forgetting the support from the international community, all led to the reduction of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Meanwhile, the NIMASA boss has also restated the Agency’s commitment to the development of the Nigerian Maritime University (NMU), Okerenkoko in Delta State.
He made this known while playing host to a delegation from NMU in his office in Lagos, where he assured them that the Agency’s floating dock would soon be deployed, and that the facility will be available for students from the university for practical experience when it becomes functional.
Jamoh further explained that experts from the manufacturers of the floating dock have been in Nigeria for over a month, working on the “nitty-gritty” of deploying the dockyard.
“When I gave them a deadline recently, I was given professional counsel not to rush the deployment. If we have waited this long, we might as well wait a while longer and ensure we don’t regret a deployment in a hurry,” he said.
Despite handing over the university to the National University Commission (NUC), Jamoh said NIMASA is committed to supporting NMU by completing projects it initiated in the University, and that the Agency still makes budgetary provisions for NMU to ensure the completion of projects it has initiated in the university.
While advising the Management of NMU to seek national and international accreditation to ensure certificates from the school enjoy global recognition, Jamoh urged them to seek collaboration with the World Maritime University (WMU), amongst other specialized higher institutions of learning.
His words: “Nigeria Maritime University can conveniently bridge the gap in terms of human capacity deficiency in the Nigerian maritime sector. All you need to do as management is to seek collaboration with similar specialized institutions and ensure that NMU certificates enjoy global recognition.
“Our goal is to seek top level manpower development from NMU instead of the current situation where institutions abroad are preferred to Nigerian based.”