Capacity development: NIMASA, ITC-ILO sign MoU
By Uzor Odigbo
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA Dr. Dayo Mobereola has said that investment in human capacity development remains central to the Agency’s vision of creating a robust maritime industry capable of meeting the emerging global industry demands.
Dr. Mobereola said this at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NIMASA and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITC-ILO) in Turin, Italy aimed at developing NIMASA’s institutional capacity through targeted technical assistance, training, and capacity-building for staff and relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry.
Represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Chudi Offodile, the NIMASA DG noted that the partnership with the ITC-ILO fits into the Agency’s deliberate objective of structured capacity building programmes for maritime professionals.
According to him, “This partnership, therefore, responds directly to that objective and further reinforces the Agency’s commitment to structured and targeted capacity development, while leveraging the ITC-ILO’s expertise and global pedigree to strengthen the training of maritime labour inspectors, policymakers, and trainers in the interpretation and implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended”.
While highlighting the strategic importance of the partnership to Nigeria’s maritime industry development, the DG said “we remain committed to ensuring that the knowledge, systems, and partnerships developed through this engagement translate into measurable improvements in maritime labour administration and support a sector that is globally respected, professionally driven, safe, and firmly anchored on the principles of decent work”.
Also speaking, the Director of the ITC-ILO, Mr. Christopher Perrin expressed appreciation for the partnership assuring that the Centre would deploy its faculty and resources to support Nigeria’s quest for sustainable human capacity development.
The MoU is the outcome of several interactions and strategic meetings between the two organisations with the Executive Director Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services NIMASA, Mr Jibril Abba and Head of Training at ITC-ILO, Giuseppe Zefola as focal persons while the Regional Adviser/Technical Expert at ILO, Dr. Amos Kuje provided valuable guidance.
