The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dayo Mobereola has restated the agency’s commitment to the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), noting that the two hundred and ninety six (296) NSDP beneficiaries at Centurion University, India will be given adequate capacity development to acquire quality training and qualify as Seafarers employable globally.
Dr Mobereola described media reports claiming that the Agency plans to withdraw the NSDP cadets from the Centurion University India as false, adding that the Agency is only carrying out due diligence on the existing MoU to align the processes in the best interest of the Nigerian students.
According to the DG, We are “not recalling any NSDP beneficiary from Centurion University. We are only working to close out all identified gaps in the existing Memorandum of Understanding before proceeding to the next stage. A situation where the Agency entered into a contractual agreement with Springdale Academy of Maritime Education and Training, SAMET with agreed courses and timelines only to be faced with additional course duration and an alien programme by the agent, SAMET, unilaterally converting the programme without the consent of the Agency as prescribed by the MoU may not be in the best interest of the students.
Speaking further, he said, “There were issues of non-accreditation of one of institution as at the time of the execution of MoU, change of course from Marine engineering to Mechanical engineering without recourse to the Agency, preparing the grounds for additional years of studies and uncertainties for the students, raising issues related to funding, and the various third parties arrangements without duly informing the Agency.