The National Seafarers Development Programmes (NSDP) teeming cadets cannot be employed, according to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), because no National fleets are available to take them on.
The Agency’s Director-General, Bashir Jamoh, made these disclosures while fielding questions from newsmen at the 53rd Session of the State House Briefing, organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
This is even as the Agency said that a total of 2,041 cadets have graduated since 2009, adding that while 120 of those admitted withdrew from the programme, 10 of them died while in training.
The NIMASA DG/CEO, at the briefing, provided key updates on the activities of his Agency. According to him, 800 of the graduating cadets have secured placements in various maritime establishments globally. He added that the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) has made it difficult for indigenous players to enter into the shipping business meant to absorb the NSDP cadets.
Since 2007, successive Ministers of Transportation and heads of NIMASA have promised to disburse the CVFF to empower indigenous ship owners to acquire vessels but the promises have remained unfulfilled.
Recall the NIMASA Chief had recently vowed to the Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, that the jinx surrounding the non-disbursement of the CVFF would be broken. If there is a jinx about the CVFF, I am going to break it, by getting it disbursed to deserving Nigerians”, he stated.
“If these funds are disbursed, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the Federal Ministry of Transportation will take credit, while it remains a legacy in your administration, the minister had said.
