Education, job creation, key areas in tackling insecurity - NIMASA

By Abiodun OBA

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has identified two key areas – education and job creation- to tackle the challenges of security confronting it.

The Director General, NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh who made this known during the commissioning of a modern twin theatre for Kaduna State University (KASU) as well as a skills centre in Zaria at the weekend, disclosed that the intervention projects are part of NIMASA’s policy on infrastructural development of the educational system in the country.

He said “These projects we are commissioning today are the first of its kind in line with our policy. We are doing similar projects across the six geo-political zones of the country.

“We have selected two key areas where we believe if we tackle them head-on, we will be able to address the challenges that we are having in terms of security. These areas include education and job creation.

“This is why in Zaria, we are commissioning a skill acquisition centre to address the challenges of job creation of over 60% of the teeming youths in Nigeria.

“The idea is to see how we can apply a non-kinetic approach to the security challenges bedevilling this country. This security challenge is not only peculiar to the areas where we have water but also land. Because most of the crimes that we are experiencing today, start on land and end on water. This is why we have to touch everywhere.

While commissioning the projects the minister of Transport, Muazu Jaji Sambo, noted that “Over the past few weeks, we have travelled across the nation to commission lofty projects by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and I dare say that NIMASA has displayed to Nigerians and indeed the whole world that the Agency is a socially responsible organisation, playing its part in poverty alleviation through the development of projects targeted at human capacity development.

“Today we will commission one such project: the Twin Lecture Theatre donated to the Kaduna State University by NIMASA.”

He remarked, “This will further provide a comfortable learning environment for our students and serve as a centre for the development of competencies in the Maritime Sector at large.

“Let me also state that the Kaduna State University is one of the budding Universities in the country that deserves every attention to make it an envy of other learning institutions across the globe.

“Indeed, the delivery of the twin lecture theatres which are fitted with modern learning gadgets has further advanced the university’s repute.

Also speaking the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, said the need for skills acquisition cannot be overemphasized saying, “This project will be of immense benefit to the people of Zaria and the country at large.”

According to him, “Strategic investment in human capital is key to the development of any nation and that is why I am always preaching for entrepreneurship and for us to graduate from rent-seeking jobs.”

He then commented on the NIMASA DG for sponsoring 2,500 young people at the Maritime Training Institute noting that he has empowered them for life.