NIMASA Denies Ejection Of NSDP Cadets From Philippine Universities

NSDP Cadets at the AMET University of Maritime, Chennai in India

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has debunked allegations that the National Seafarers Development Project (NSDP); a project of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is facing challenges.

The agency was reacting to allegations that the cadets may have been kicked out of their respective foreign schools in Philippines, for non-payment of school fees.

Under the NSDP, the cadets were given scholarships to study naval architecture, marine engineering and nautical sciences at the University of Cebu, Lyceum University.

About 58 of them were at the UPHS, 350 in Cebu while about the same number are studying at Lyceum University.

The report was that, the agency had failed to remit the cadets’ tuition fees and  feeding allowances to the various universities and the students respectively.

It was also alleged that trouble started for the NSDP beneficiaries when some students were initially relocated to another university following a weather forecast that there may be an outbreak of a typhoon in the region.

It was revealed that the school authority informed NIMASA of the development and advised that their feeding allowance should be increased.

However, the report was that the agency allegedly initially slashed the allowance by 50 per cent until it stopped the payment of the allowance and tuitions.

But, in a reaction to the report, the Deputy Director of Public Relations of NIMASA, Mr. Isichie Osamgbi in a press statement sent to Shipping Position Daily yesterday‎ debunked the allegation, saying that it is false

"Nothing can be further from the truth than this assertion. To put the records straight, the school fees and other allowances of the NSDP beneficiaries in all the institutions of their studies is not only budgeted for, but are also paid up to date with all the students in the various institutions undergoing regular trainings uninterrupted"

"For the avoidance of doubts, all the schools training the Nigerian NSDP beneficiaries in the Philippines are standard institutions with websites for communication and inquiry purposes"

‎"Journalists may therefore wish to contact the University of Perpetual Help Laspinas, the University of Lyceum and the University of Cebu directly for the correct position of these cadets should they require further clarification" Osamgbi stated.

Between 2012 and 2014, the agency spent N20 billion to train about 2,500 cadets in various maritime institutions in Egypt, United Kingdom and The Philippines.

The total number of beneficiaries of the programme sent to Europe, Egypt and The Philippines in two years is slightly over 2,500 with the agency planning to increase figure to 10,000 by year 2020. http://shippingposition.com.ng/article/nimasa-denies-ejection-nsdp-cadets-philippine-universities