Nigeria Needs About 50000 Seafarers - FG

Leadership (Abuja)

1 August 2011

Nigeria Needs About 50000 Seafarers - FG

The federal government has said that the country needs about 50, 000 seafarers, and that even if the 26, 538 Niger Delta youths benefiting from the amnesty programme were trained in that aspect, it would still not enough.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday at the signing of agreement for job placement with Century Group, the special adviser to the president on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, said the youths at the demobilisation camp in Obubra were encouraged to take up maritime-related courses to fill the manpower need of the oil and gas industry.

"We need about 50, 000 seafarers in Nigeria, because that arm of the oil and gas sector is dominated by expatriates. Those who choose maritime programme, we will take them to reputable international institutions for training. When they come back, the openings are there for them to exploit

"Having known the areas that are easier for government to train the Niger Delta beneficiaries of the amnesty programme, we will be mapping out strategies of how to get them engaged in employment in line with the Local Content Act and Cabotage Act of this country. These are the areas we are looking at because it borders on employment opportunities for Nigerian youths," he stated.