Kaduna—The Nigerian Maritime University (NMU), Okerenkoko, Delta State and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna, on Monday, ratified a Memorandum of Understanding on training and research.
The event took place in Kaduna at a ceremony attended by the Commandant of NDA, Major General I.M. Yusuf and the Vice Chancellor of NMU, Professor Emmanuel Munakurogha Adigio who was accompanied by some principal management staff of the institution.
Mangrovepen.ng gathered that the MoU would facilitate cooperation between the two institutions in the area of sabbatical and student exchanges.
They will also jointly administer the following post-graduate, specialized and short courses: maritime security and safety, maritime dispute management and resolution, maritime risks analysis, disaster management and maritime entrepreneurship.
Other courses include maritime transport technology, transportation management, logistics and supply chain management, shipping and maritime operations and safety management system.
Adigio said the cooperation between the two institutions was critical to the security in the Gulf of Guinea, adding that many of the NMU academics would undertake Doctorate and Master’s degrees in NDA, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
In his words: “we also have qualified staff to take issues on transportation, as the NDA is providing programmes for our academic staff, we will also be providing them knowledge in areas they don’t have.”
The vice chancellor assured NDA that NMU would do its best to sustain the high standard in which the academy operates.
In his response, the Commandant of NDA, Yusuf, said the MoU would be mutually beneficial to both institutions.
NDA is a military university with a strong post-graduate school and specialization in defence and security studies, he noted.
Yusuf added that the NDA’s naval component had conducted a lot of studies and operations within the maritime domain, expressing hope that both institutions would gain in the area of research and capacity building.
On his part, the Director of Partnership, Linkages and Collaborations of NMU, Dr. Godfrey Pondei, said the institution was established to provide trained manpower in the maritime sector.
The professional courses are said to commence in Bayelsa, Port Harcourt and a few other cities, across the country.