Business

Maritime Guru Seeks Global Recognition of Nigeria’s Seafarers

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2024

OCHEFA

513 Views

A maritime expert, Capt Konni Duniya, says that the global recognition of seafarers in Nigeria’s Maritime sector are in the hands of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, and the NIMASA.

Capt Duniya spoke during the 2024 Lecture Series of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron, titled: ‘Addressing Human and Institutional Capacity Development in Nigeria’s Maritime Sector Through Stakeholders Partnership.’

She called on the Federal Government to organise frequent
training for existing seafarers and develop capacity building programs for incoming ones with the use of emerging trends and technologies.

“Nigeria has been on the IMO STCW white list since 2019; however, Nigerian seaferers are yet to benefit from this achievement due to the inability of Nigeria to sign MOU with the most respected countries like UK, Australia and most of Europe.

Signing MOU with such countries will help strengthen our image as a serious maritime nation and open doors for employment of Nigerian seafarers globally.

‘Nigeria is the only country with unemployed seafarers in the world despite the cabotage law which seems to have been poorly implemented,” she said.

She expressed concern that the country will suffer huge shortage of adequate and competent seafarers in the coming years if the manpower Gap created as a result of war, retirement and disruptions in the sector is not urgently addressed.

Capt Duniya, an alumna of the premier maritime institution, also blame the domination of Nigeria’s Maritime sector by seafarers of foreign countries, issuance of fraudulent Certificate of Competency CoC, lack of database to validate cadet’s education, training and experience.

She also identified non-compliance with STCW Convention of International Maritime Organization as one of the major factors and limitations causing low employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers.

“There needs to for proper housekeeping in NIMASA to combat issues of seatime and licence forgery through the use of block chain and cloud computing.

There is the need for Nigeria to market her seafarers to the global market alongside the signing of MOU like Ghana, South Africa and other countries are doing.

Nigeria seafarers are left to their fate battling poor wages , welfare and living conditions within Nigerian waters while alternatively accepting lower positions outside Nigerian waters which does not give room for consistent career growth,” she said

Related Topics:Featured Maritime Academy Seafarers

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Naira Rates To Dollar , Pound, EURO… Monday, October 5

Published

26 minutes ago

October 5, 2026

OCHEFA

2 Views

Black Market Exchange Rates

₦1365DOLLAR (USD)

₦1820POUND (GBP)

₦1535EURO (EUR)

₦970 CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD)

₦65 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR)

₦350 UAE DIRHAM (AED)

₦190 CHINESE YUAN (CNY)

₦100 GHANAIAN CEDI (GHS)

West African CFA ₦2300CFA

Central African CFA ₦2200

Australian Dollar currency ₦850AUSSIE (AUD)

Official CBN Exchange Rates

DOLLAR (USD)₦1330.10

POUND (GBP)₦1759.58

EURO (EUR)₦1496.76

SWISS FRANC (CHF)₦1605.62

JAPANESE YEN (JPN)₦8.45

CFA FRANC (XOF)₦2.29

WEST AFRICAN UNIT OF ACCOUNT (WAUA)₦1801.60

CHINESE YUAN (CNY) ₦198.39

SAUDI RIYAL (SAR)₦354.25

SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR)₦79.91

Business

Diesel Costs Bite: LAMATA Accelerates Shift To CNG, Electric Buses

The move comes as diesel prices have more than doubled, rising from about N950 per litre at the beginning of the year to between N1,950 and N2,100 per litre, depending on the source.

Published

14 hours ago

October 4, 2026

OCHEFA

17 Views

Lagos is accelerating its transition away from diesel-powered public transport as the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) begins phasing out diesel buses from its regulated fleet, amid a surge in diesel prices that has pushed operating costs sharply higher.

LAMATA is targeting clean-energy propulsion for 52 per cent of its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) fleet by 2050, with compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs) taking the place of conventional diesel buses under a policy that took effect at the beginning of 2026.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAMATA, Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo, disclosed this weekend, during the handover of 20 additional high-capacity CNG buses under the Presidential Initiative on CNG and EVs.

The latest delivery brings LAMATA’s CNG fleet to about 170 buses, following the deployment of approximately 150 CNG buses before the new vehicles were received.

The authority also operates high-capacity and medium-capacity electric buses.

Akinajo said some of the new CNG buses would be deployed on the busy Ikorodu–Tafawa Balewa Square corridor, where passenger demand remains high.

“We will only work with CNG or EV buses, and this has been the policy since the beginning of the year,” she said.

The move comes as diesel prices have more than doubled, rising from about N950 per litre at the beginning of the year to between N1,950 and N2,100 per litre, depending on the source.

For LAMATA, the shift is therefore not only an environmental policy but also a cost-management strategy aimed at shielding commuters and transport operators from the impact of rising fuel expenses.

Akinajo said regulated public transport fares had not been increased, partly because the lower operating costs of CNG and electric buses were helping to contain the pressure on operators.

“Regulated public transport fares have not increased, and these buses have helped us achieve that,” she said.

Diesel phase-outUnder the new policy, existing diesel-powered buses in the regulated system will be progressively replaced with CNG and electric alternatives.

Akinajo said the long-term direction was for the regulated system to ultimately operate an entirely electric fleet, while the broader clean-energy target provides a pathway towards reducing emissions from Lagos’ transportation sector.

Transportation remains a major source of emissions in the megacity, making the switch to cleaner buses a key component of Lagos State’s long-term ambition of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.