The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has said the maritime industry is large enough to adequately engage the teeming youths in the country.
He added that there are enormous opportunities in the Nigerian maritime industry that youths could take advantage of to generate foreign earnings.
The NIMASA boss stated this on Tuesday at the Maritime House, Apapa, Lagos State, while receiving the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd.).
Jamoh noted that the meeting between both agencies was a wake-up call on the need to collaborate efforts as both agencies are closely related.
“This is a critical time for NIMASA and PAP to have a robust and formidable relationship. The international community is already commending Nigeria for the successes recorded in addressing maritime insecurity in the country.
“Both the Nigerian government and international committee are watching to see if the tempo can be sustained,” he said.
Jamoh further suggested that to sustain the current tempo, it is important to fully empower and reintegrate beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme into society, noting that NIMASA had trained over 4,000 Nigerians internationally under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, which a majority of whom are from the Niger Delta.
Earlier in his remarks, the PAP Interim Administrator hailed the NIMASA DG and his team for redefining the safety and security of the maritime Industry.
“My vision is to chart a new path for the Amnesty Programme by upholding the principal objectives of government, by bringing innovative ideas, setting a new management structure of wealth creation for the teeming youths, instead of depending on monthly stipends, to pave the way for a more prosperous future,” Ndiomu said.
While encouraging NIMASA to sustain the partnership with the PAP, he called for more collaboration and cooperation from international stakeholders.
He added that in the maritime sector, the PAP had trained a large number of ex-agitators across institutions in the world in various specialisations, some of which include deep sea diving, underwater welding, and marine engineering.
He regretted that after these training, many of them remained unemployed.
“We are looking at exploring technical support from NIMASA, job placement opportunities in within the industry for our qualified delegates,” he said.
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