The Vice Chancellor of the Nigerian Maritime University (NMU), Delta State, Mrs Ongoebi Maureen Etebu has disclosed that the first set of students for the University will be admitted in September, 2015.
Etebu dropped the hint when the Governing Council of the institution visited the host community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State recently.
She said the school would operate from its temporary site for some reason, and assured that it would move to its permanent site in no distant time.
According to her, the temporary site is conducive enough for the University to commence full academic activities. She added that the University, which is the first of its kind in the West African sub-region, would create direct and indirect jobs for the people of Gbaramatu community.
She also assured that the management would ensure that the University attained an enviable height among other Maritime institutions.
“The Nigerian Maritime University is good to go and we are hoping that from next session, we will admit students from the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB),” She opined.
In his remarks, the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the concept of the agency to open a university was to guarantee sustainable international training of qualified manpower for the maritime industry.
Akpobolokemi noted that the dearth of qualified manpower in the Nigerian Maritime sector was the main reason behind the project and assured that the University would meet up with its aims and objectives.
Earlier, Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, during a meeting with the University’s Governing Council in Asaba, said specialized universities would provide the right tools to equip graduates with practical training that would enable them create employment after their career, as unemployment in Nigeria today is largely due to focus on conventional universities.
“Nigeria should move beyond conventional universities and seek to establish specialized universities which will give the right tools and practical learning that will make graduates employers of labour, rather than job seekers,” the Governor posited.
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