Dakuku seeks more funding for Maritime University

Abiola Seun

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside said the agency will engage the federal government for more funding for the Nigerian Maritime University (NMU), Kurutie, Delta State.

The NMU is the first maritime university in Nigeria and is built to bridge the human Capacity gap in the nation’s maritime sector.

But, Peterside speaking to journalists at the end of the first matriculation ceremony of NMU 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 new intakes, the NIMASA DG acknowledged that the NMU is in dire need of more funding to cater for infrastructural and many other challenges confronting the university.

The DG who thanked the federal government for the support given thus far for the maritime university vowed to hold series of engagement with the office of the Vice President and the Budget Office, including other stakeholders to ensure collaborative effort to meet the challenges of the nascent maritime university.

According to Dr. Peterside, “I am feeling elated right now because this is a fulfilment of a dream. You will recall that many years ago, precisely in the year 2013, NIMASA initiated the idea of a Nigerian maritime university to fill a gap.

We identified the fact that if we want to grow our maritime industry, we need three important elements namely the asset which is the vessel itself. The second is the human capacity while the third is the supporting infrastructure. Of all these three, the most important is the human element.

“We clearly identified the fact that we were lacking in human element to build capacity. To build capacity, we needed our own maritime university. We are among the leading maritime nations without a maritime university. So, today is the fulfilment of that great dream.”

On the grant given to the university by the Federal Government, the NIMASA DG stated that, “We appreciate the grant given by the Federal Government to support the numerous grant given by NIMASA to the NMU. However, it is without a doubt that we need to put more money here because the university is without infrastructure aside its available human resources.

“The NMU is a professional university, and not a conventional university. So, because it is a professional university, it requires multiple accreditation. Its just not enough to have the accreditation of the Nigerian University Commission (NUC).

“The NMU also needs to be accredited by the maritime institution of the country, and it is also regulated internationally.”

Speaking on challenges  on accommodation  issue confronting the university, the NIMASA DG stated that, “Yes, accommodation is a challenge that needs to be addressed permanently. However, this is not the permanent site of the NMU. Work is going on at the permanent site in Okerenkoko, so this place in Kurutie will end up being one of the campuses of the NMU.
In addition, we are going to hold series of engagement with the office of the Vice President and the Budget Office, including other stakeholders to ensure we all work collaboratively to meet the challenges of the maritime university.”

In her presentation, the Vice Chancellor of the NMU, Professor (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen Orubode Etebu lauded the host communities for provision of electricity and water to the university.

In her words, “The water we drink in the campus is supplied by the five Kurutie communities since we do not yet have a borehole of our own. The host communities denied themselves electricity when we first arrived just to make sure we are comfortable.”

The Vice Chancellor also appreciated the Delta State Government for the prompt release of N100m and two 500Kva electricity generators for the university.

Professor Etebu also stated that the university is presently in a collaboration with the Caribbean Maritime University in Jamaica and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).