The Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) has denied claims in a section of the media that despite funding from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), many Master Mariners have quit the academy over poor welfare packages and a lack of electricity to their staff quarters.
Addressing the media over the weekend on a series of sponsored allegations against the Academy, the Rector, Commodore Duja Effedua (rtd), revealed that the five per cent allocation that statutorily comes from NIMASA to the Academy is based on what NIMASA makes from its clients in a given period of time.
According to Commodore Duja Effedua, “the allegations that Master Mariners are resigning in droves due to poor welfare conditions or a lack of power supply to their quarters are not true. Despite the huge cost of diesel, with a truck going for N30 million, we have been able to utilise the money NIMASA pays to us prudently, and evidence abounds.
“The diesel we purchase is meant for training and not staff leisure. The academy never connected power supplies to the staff quarters before my resumption. The allegations that the academy had a 24-hour power supply each day before my arrival are laughable.
These persons are pained because it is no longer business as usual where they steal and loot the system as they used to, which is why there is a spike in their petition writings.
“As of the time I resumed in 2017, the academy lacked quality staff. I had to go out of my way to other institutions and establishments, poaching experts, instructors, ICT experts, lawyers, engineers, and they are in the academy, doing a fantastic job.
“Altogether, the academy has employed 109 experts under my watch, and this includes master mariners, chief engineers, and even foreign experts on a contract basis.
“Master Mariners who are active will never come ashore to work, and this is unknown to the person making allegations about Master Mariners leaving the academy in droves. A master mariner who is retired is not expected to be a young man.
“Claims that Master Mariners exited the system in droves are false because those that were mentioned left over three years ago, not at the same time as alleged.
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