they tell their people, if in the next few years, the North again takes over the mantle of international shipping leadership?” a law maker spoke of record, to the Nigerian Tribune, even as the youths continued to pour encomiums, not only on the Federal Government, but also on their state governments, as well as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the agency which initiated the National Shipping Development Programme (NSDP), which allowed Nigerian youths to acquire quality sea faring training overseas.

Their fees are however shared between the Federal Government and the respective state governments on a 40: 60 ratio basis.

The law makers whose visit to the UK was in continuation of their oversight functions subsequently scrutinised the facilities at the Newcastle college, an institution established in 1861, ranking among the best within the United Kingdom, so as to know what to do if the Nigerian Maritime Academy, at Oron in Akwa Ibom State must be uplifted..

The Nigerian delegation, particularly Senator Zeinab Kure, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, were so impressed that they gave assurances that they would leave no stones unturned until an enduring platform for providing Nigerian cadets with the required sea faring exposure and trainings are entrenched.

The students, numbering about 30, with a few females, and mostly from Niger, and Kaduna States expressed satisfaction with the quality and skills being imparted into them, noting that aside from sea trainings which they were still looking forward to, their peers elsewhere were no longer better off, than them.