Nigeria: Union Blames FG For Seafarers’ Inability To Compete Globally

Union Blames FG For Seafarers’ Inability To Compete Globally
May 2, 2022 https://www.thetidenewsonline.com/2022/05/02/union-blames-fg-for-seafare...

The Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron (AMANO) have blamed the Federal Government for failure to make Nigerian seafarers competitive in the global labour market.
AMANO noted that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of the United Kingdom approved the Certificates of Competency (CoC) issued to seafarers by the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), even as it continued to reject the CoC issued by Nigeria.

Speaking to newsmen during the Association’s 2022 stakeholders forum in Lagos, President of AMANO, Emmanuel Mauguwa Ganiko, lamented the inability of Nigeria-trained seafarers to make appreciable progress in their careers due to several constraints.

Ganiko insisted that the rejection of the country’s CoCs means seafarers trained in Nigeria would not be able to work on United Kingdom and Red Ensign flagged vessels.
“Another situation is when a country is not able to certify her own seafarers, a situation where a country cannot provide career progression to her seafarers.

“Officers are not able to get to the next road having qualified. When such happens, the seafarer looks for an alternative, like obtaining licenses in the United Kingdom.

“This often comes with a temptation to relocate with their family. Without any sentiment, his initial plan might not be to relocate but due to the fact that he wants a career progression, he relocates”, he said.

The President listed AMANO’s challenges as license procedures, difficulty in preparing seafarers’ identification documents, and the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and other countries to enhance employment of Nigerian seafarers on non-Nigerian flag vessels.

The welfare of seafarers, career development progression and availability of platforms are also part of the setbacks, according to him.

“At this juncture, government agencies are expected to buckle up in order to make seafarers eligible and qualified to be able to work onboard foreign vessels,” he concluded.