The member representing Oron Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Robinson Uwak has risen to tackle what he considers “fiscal irresponsibility, inefficiency, wastage and grievous abuse of office unbecoming of a public officer and synonymous with the highhanded military regimes of the past” and the executive fiat of the Director General of NIMASA by voting a staggering 17 Billion Naira to fund the establishment of another Maritime University, instead of upgrading the Nigerian Maritime Academy, Oron, to a full fledge University.
In a letter written to the House Committee on Marine Transport Hon. Uwak said he was “constrained, due to numerous irregularities in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) budget primarily, the provision for a Maritime University at Okerenkoko Delta State while the Maritime Academy of Nigeria is allowed to wallow in financial paucity”.
Our source quoted Uwak as saying that a total of 17 Billion Naira has been appropriated for the said project without recourse to the existence of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron set up by Decree 16 of 1988 or Cap. 217 Laws of Nigeria 1990, stating that the Academy was in dire need of upgrade to a university status.
Hon Uwak argued that the urgency of setting up a Maritime University in such a manner without due recourse to the rule of law and due process could have suggested that the project was inserted into the budget to satisfy sectional and tribal undertones as revealed by the publication of the online vanguard on the 20th of May 2014, titled ‘Tompolo Commended Over Maritime Varsity’; and several other paid advertorials in Nigerian papers commending and congratulating Tompolo for the sitting of the University.
In presenting his position to the National Assembly about the neglect of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, the federal lawmaker complained that NIMASA was spending a whopping N5 billion of tax payers’ money to outsource the training of seafarers abroad, a job he said would have been comfortably done with far less by Maritime Academy of Nigeria(MAN), Oron, if it was properly ungraded.
In his words “It must again be stated that the Maritime Academy, Oron has been in existence for 26 years without certification from the International Maritime Organization. This would have been done by necessary upgrades and certification procedures which would not cost tax payers more than 2 Billion Naira yet NIMASA, outsourcing the functions of Maritime Academy, Oron spends 5 Billion Naira annually on Seafarers training abroad. This calls into question the constitutional requirement of Section 16 (1) (a) which requires the resources of the country to be harnessed efficiently”, the lawmaker stated.
Because of the neglect of MAN, Hon. Uwak in his letter called for adequate funds to be appropriated to MAN for urgent upgrading as the Maritime University at Okerenkono is also funded, stating vehemently that a meeting of all the stakeholders be convened and the issues at stake carefully resolved, else he would have no other option than “to pursue vigorous Legislative Action to address this ugly trend”.
The lawmaker’s letter, according to our source “plead for a review” of the said budgetary provision as voting such a whopping N17 Billion naira for that purpose was not only “inefficient and wasteful” but also daunting the legal role originally assigned to “the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron without recourse to the National Assembly”.
“I plead for a review of this budgetary provision in the light of the way and manner in which the provision for a Maritime University has been set up. It is clear that voting a whopping 17 Billion Naira for this purpose is not only inefficient and wasteful; but it seeks to daunt the legal role that has already been assigned to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron without recourse to the National Assembly.
“Kindly note, Section 16 (2) (b) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Act, requires the Agency to remit not less than 5% of its annual budget to the Maritime Academy, Oron. Therefore the law does not constrain NIMASA in any way to fund the Maritime Academy, Oron to capacity.
“Cognizant of this; NIMASA should as a matter of utmost exigency appropriate the much needed sum to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron just as it has to the Maritime University at Okerenkoko in order to facilitate the upgrade of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron to a University Status.
“I therefore, kindly request that all stakeholders be convened at the soonest possible time to ensure the resolution of the issues herein raised, otherwise I would be saddled with no other option than to pursue vigorous Legislative Action to address this ugly trend”, the letter, dated May 28, 2014, said.
The said letter addressed to the National Assembly and captioned “NEGLECT OF MARITIME ACADEMY ORON” has been copied to Senate Chairman, Committee on Marine Transport; Senate Committee on Marine Transport; House Chairman on Marine Transport; House Committee on Marine Transport; Minister of Transport and Director General, NIMASA.
It could be recalled that not long ago, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) facilitated the groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of Maritime University at Okerenkoko, a community in Delta State.
The event which took place on the 10th of May 2014 had the President stressing that human capacity development had been identified as a major factor needed to boost the maritime sector to fully utilize the gains of the industry.
The ceremony was part of President Jonathan’s tour of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) facilities in Delta State.
The establishment of the university is to further NIMASA’s passion to build local capacity in the maritime sector as well as to export manpower, a capacity development initiatives that would help to quicken the pace for the development of human capacity that would definitely take over the cabotage trade in the nearest future.
The Director-General of NIMASA, Mr Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, had said that the dearth of adequate human capacity in the maritime sector, occasioned by inadequate maritime training institutions in Nigeria, was a major reason that influenced the decision of the National Assembly to endorse the recommendation of NIMASA to establish a maritime university. About 400 hectares of land had been set aside for the building of the university.
Meanwhile analysts and public commentators have been worried by this hurried action by federal government and have variously condemned this action by a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Transport considering the fact that Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, has been in existence for the past 26 years without being properly funded and upgraded to the status of a Maritime University and are calling on the federal government to look at the case of Maritime Academy of Nigeria and address same urgently.
In a swift remark a columnist for one of the state tabloids said that, “within the context of economic development of rural areas, it would be expedient for the President to do everything possible to up-grade the status of Maritime Academy in Oron, before he can consider another Maritime University in Okerenkoko as a second one if that be the case. Outside that would portray President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as ethnic bigot who brazenly is executing his Ijaw agenda, which is tantamount to belittling Akwa Ibom State for Ijaw to take the fourth position as a major ethnic nationality in Nigeria. Yet I do not agree that President Goodluck Jonathan, is so narrow-minded for me to take his action as tendentious for him to spite the Akwa Ibom State.
I do not accuse him of feathering the nest of Ijaw agenda, as his constituency is the entire Nigeria. But in his dealings, irrespective of mounting pressure, the President must remember the effect his action of closing the Maritime Academy could be having on Akwa Ibom people. That should amount to robbing Peter to pay Paul, which is obnoxious, unacceptable and devilish in terms and conjecture. In the interest of brotherliness and considering 2015 as a reckoning period, President Jonathan should first put the logistics in place for up-grading the Maritime Academy to a full fledge university before we roll into 2015, and before he goes into building the one he proposes in Okerenkoko. Anything outside that would portray his move as aiming to close down the institution in Akwa Ibom State for the benefit of his Ijaw ethnic nationality in Delta State”.
A source who did not want to be named in this report had said that the DG could allegedly be playing the script of Tompolo who is believed to be his godfather.
No comments:
Post a Comment