Joe Effiong, Uyo
House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration has commended the Rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Commodore Emmanuel Effedua for turning round the fortunes of the academy within a short period.
The Chairman, Lynda Ikpeazu and members of the committee who said this when they paid a working visit to the academy in Oron, Akwa Ibom State on Thursday, expressed delight at the improvement of infrastructure and programmes of the school, said to have been in a terrible state and heading for delisting by international Maritime Organisation (IMO) a few years ago.
Ikpeazu specifically said the committee would support the academy by insisting on NIMASA accounting for all its quarterly income so as not only to release appropriate percentage to the academy, but to also ensure that such quarterly releases are made on time.
“We are encouraging you to keep on doing it. You now have a partner in us. Anytime you have a need, feel free to come to us for help,” the committee chairman said.
Another member of the committee and an alumnus of the academy, Capt. Ajao Jacob Adejumo, said he was finally proud of the institution due to observed improvement recorded by Effedua’s administration.
Adejumo, however, asked the academy to ensure that it trains the cadets to attain the highest level of maritime education in the institution instead of having them go abroad to further their studies.
Effedua had in his briefing to the committee, highlighted the achievement the Academy has recorded since he became the rector on September 6, 2017, to include employment of qualified lecturers, reduction of bloated cadet intake to ensure effective learning and giving free laptops and books to all cadets.
He said he took over an institution with over bloated manpower, demoralized staff, huge debt profile, irregular fund by NIMASA, poor pay to staff and poor work ethics among staff; but that within the period, apart from the infrastructure renaissance, the programmes of the institution have been accorded international registration.
“Let NIMASA make known what it earns in a quarter so that we will know what the value of the 5% it is supposed to release . We have never got the four quarters’ releases in one calendar year since I came here. They will not tell us what they earn but I believe they will tell the committee. So please write and invite them and we will come with our records.
“In future, we are looking at acquisition of more training aids, calling for the audit of our programmes by the international quality-assurance agency, and retraining of our trainers to further improve on the quality of our products,” the rector said.
He thanked the committee for its support and called for suggestions and even positive criticism that would help the academy to attain its envisaged heights.