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MAN Rector Tasks ICPC, Questions Motive for Inclusion on Corruption Listing.

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Commodore Duja Emmanuel Effedua (Rtd)

 

 

 

 

 

By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

 

 

 

It is patently wrong and unacceptable for the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to, without any proof of wrongdoing, list the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) as a High Corruption Risk Agency (HCR) on the guise that the College allegedly failed to respond to its Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) questionnaire, MAN Rector, Commodore Duja Effedua (Rtd) has observed.

 

The classification, he insists, is not justified as the ICPC never conducted any study before coming up with its conclusion regarding the Academy. He said that if efforts are not made to promptly present the facts as they are, the news report on the ranking and the wide publicity stand to do incalculable damage to the integrity and image of MAN, Oron.

 

According to the Rector, the ranking is capable of de-marketing the Academy nationally and internationally beside eroding the giant strides it has made in the global maritime arena in the past five years.

 

Beyond this, the unsubstantiated allegation will endanger various partnerships MAN has entered into with foreign MTIs especially in the area of capacity building, technical support and marketability.

 

The motive in including the Academy on the HCR  corruption ranking, the Rector said, is suspect as the institution duly responded to ICPC’s EICS query of July 2, 2021 through the email designated for this purpose.

 

On January 9, 2022, another email response was sent with even a hard copy addressed to the same Mr A. Udofia, the director in charge of the ranking. An acknowledgement copy from the ICPC indicating that the mails were duly received serves as a proof of delivery. “Surprisingly, this man went ahead to mislead the Commission to include the Academy on the list for reasons best known to him.”

 

At an event in Lagos, the Rector explained that the listing of MAN may have been premeditated considering issues associated with receipt of the EICS correspondences and other related matters which the Study System and Review Department of the ICPC in charge of the assessment and ranking appeared to have shown bias and attitude to. He promised to approach the ICPC Chairman to formally complain so that the leadership can investigate what he refers to as bias of some of the staff in the handling of affairs of MAN in recent time.

 

On March 12, 2021, Effedua disclosed, MAN received a similar request and promptly responded to it through the ICPC’s email as specifically directed. “After some months, they wrote again to say they didn’t get our reply. We stated that we did and went further to show proof of delivery as evidence”.

 

The Rector wondered if MAN is to be held responsible for operational lapses within the responsible department in the ICPC.

 

“Before this time, we sent names of some staff of the Academy who gained employment with forged certificates to the ICPC to do their own investigation. Majority of the affected staff are from the State and host community. More than three years now, ICPC didn’t act on our request. Each time we asked for updates, they ask us to send the names again and we do. Up till today, ICPC didn’t act on the reports and this is making us to be suspicious of motives of some internal forces within the respected anti-graft agency. How can they claim that documents didn’t get to their destination within their complex despite proof of delivery and acknowledgement from them?”

 

Speaking specifically on the 2022 questionnaire used to carry out the incorrect assessment, Effedua said: “The EICS letter arrived the Academy December 22, 2022 and despite that the Academy had closed for the year after the 2022 Graduation Ceremony, I directed that the request be treated immediately and it was done and submitted on January 9, 2023.

 

“Now, based on the funny signals we have been getting from them,  we decided to submit the hard copy of the EICS to the Director of Study System and Review Department, Mr A. Udofia and it was received and acknowledged by the Commission. Strangely, it was this same director that claimed that MAN didn’t reply to their audit request which is untrue.

 

“I am worried that some persons are not happy with the positive things happening in the Academy under my watch. Remember that since coming onboard, a cabal holding down the development of the Academy has written more than 6000 petitions against me because I blocked the leakages and shut them out.”

 

The Rector is worried that ICPC’s strange and inexplainable tag on MAN as a high corruption risk institution is injurious not only to his person and the office but to the nation and her citizenry. ICPC leadership, he insists, should look into the matter. “If the Study System and Review Department of our revered ICPC is saying that it conducted a research to arrive at its unfair assessment and ranking, where and how did they do this without visiting the Academy?”, he queried.

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Maritime Agencies

MARITIME SECURITY: 1723 Vessels Conducted ‘Dark Activities’ On Nigerian Waters, January To April, 2025, NIMASA’s C4i Reveals.

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By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

 

Between January 2024 and January 2025, 1,723 vessels conducted ‘dark activities’, including turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) while on Nigerian waters.

Dr Dayo Mobereola

The Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4i) centre of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) says this alarming number of vessels probably decided to tamper with their AIS system to enable them carry out illicit activities within Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ).

 

The C4i centre, a critical component of the Deep Blue project domiciled within NIMASA operates with contributions from various security agencies including the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services.

 

It monitors vessels entering Nigerian waters using an intelligence system designed to detect any suspicious activity.

 

The supervisor of the C4i operation centre, Abdulrasak Lawal disclosed these findings recently during an oversight visit by the House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration to the Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre (NMRDC) in Lagos.

 

He explained that the system tracks the history of vessels, including their voyages and flags to determine any questionable activities for further investigation. The questionable activities include different types of sharp practices and the deliberate switching off of the AIS, among others.

 

Lawal said some of the vessels uncovered are suspected to have been engaged in illegal fishing, illegal bunkering, oil theft and dumping of harmful waste in the nation’s waters.

 

“These vessels, when they sail into our waters, turn off their transmission, and once they do that, you’re not able to track them. Once you are unable to track vessels operating on your waters, there are so many reasons associated with it. We have so many vessels coming for illegal bunkering, illegal fishing, dumping of harmful waste- they are part of the 1723 vessels conducting dark activities.

 

He added, “Immediately a vessel goes dark, we dispatch one of our aerial assets above that particular vessel to ascertain it’s activities at that moment.  Because once a vessel goes dark, it is a crime on its own, and we even have the power to detain any vessel that is conducting dark activities.”

 

Lawal also highlighted the significant volume of maritime traffic within Nigeria’s waters, which he said accounts for 47 percent of vessel traffic in the Gulf of Guinea with 33,530 port calls recorded between January and April 2025.

 

This, he said, is against figures from countries within the Gulf of The Guinea (GoG) like Ghana with 4,969 port calls, Gabon- 2,753, Equatorial Guinea- 2,196, Benin- 996, Liberia- 711, and Gambia with 328 port calls within the review period.

 

The high volume of traffic, Lawal noted, increases the potential for illegal activities and attack on vessels adding that as a member of the GoG, Nigeria is accountable to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for ensuring security of vessels in its maritime domain.

 

Lawal disclosed further that a total of 4,016 different vessels entered Nigeria’s EEZ between January and April 2025,

with 166 of them entering for the first time.

 

Despite the challenges posed by these dark activities, Lawal said the C4i centre of the deep blue project has been instrumental not only in identifying suspicious vessels but also in maintaining a record of zero piracy incidents in Nigeria waters for over one year.

 

 

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Maritime Agencies

Nigeria – China Currency Swap Deal: Farinto, Olanrewaju Urge Maritime Stakeholders To Take Advantage of Opportunities.

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By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

 

 

 

Chairman, Customs Consultative Council (CCC), Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju is optimistic that the currency swap agreement between Nigeria and China has the potential to address the challenges of inflation and other issues working against trade facilitation in the country.

 

Determined to relieve external funding pressures and ensure trade facilitation between Nigeria and China, both countries engaged in a series of negotiations for a bilateral currency swap framework.

 

Olanrewaju who chaired the recent breakfast meeting held in Lagos by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria ( MARAN) recalled

a research of over ten years ago showing that prices of goods keep going up in Nigeria compared to other countries of the world.

 

” I believe the decision of MARAN to organise this breakfast meeting and bring stakeholders together will give us an insight into the benefits and challenges of the currency swap between Nigeria and China”, he said.

 

Statistics show that China is a strategic tool for trade efficiency and external sector diversification . It has the potentials to offer Nigeria’s maritime industry new trade opportunities with China, the country’s trading partner .

 

In his intervention, former Acting President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Collins Farinto commended the Tinubu administration for courageous decisions being taken to move the country’s economy forward.

 

However , he wants Government to tackle the challenge of infrastructure which has been an impediment to trade facilitation so as to efficiently implement the currency swap deal.

 

Farinto also called for the construction of a functional rail system to make the Lekki Deep Sea port viable and disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund ( CVFF).

 

He urged the Federal Government to provide the financial support to MARAN to enable the pioneer maritime media association to lead in efforts to carry out needed sensitization on the implementation of the currency swap deal between the two countries.

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Maritime Agencies

MAN, Oron, Pledges Partnership With CILT To Foster Professionalism In Marine and Blue Economy.

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The visitors presenting the Rector's portrait.

 

 

By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

 

 

 

The Management of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State, has received special recognition and applause for emphasizing robust professional maritime, logistics and transportation education, supply chain management and other professional pursuits aimed at deepening maritime development in Nigeria.

 

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Uyo Branch made the commendation recently during a courtesy visit to the Management of the foremost nautical school.

 

Addressing the Academy’s Management Team, the Chairman of the Uyo Branch of the CILT, Mr. Itoro Okon Effiong, said the courtesy visit was to strengthen the professional relationship CILT established with the Academy and to congratulate the newly- appointed Acting Rector of the Academy, Dr. Kevin Okonna.

 

Okon Effiong who was accompanied by some key officers from the Uyo, Oron, Calabar, and Next Generation branches of the oldest Transport and Logistics Institute in the world said:

“We wish to reaffirm the CILT’s commitment to deepening collaboration with the Academy. We Congratulate you, (the Acting Rector).”

 

“The track record of your achievements in maritime leadership and educational development will always be remembered.”

 

The chairman added that the Rector’s appointment was timely considering the need to add value to the maritime and logistics sectors, which are undergoing global and local transformation.

 

Effiong stressed the pivotal role the Maritime Academy is playing in shaping seafarers and maritime professionals across the country and Africa, an effort he recalled is equally the professional passion of CILT Nigeria.

 

The Uyo CILT boss further maintained that by building and strengthening a robust professional partnership with institutions like the Maritime Academy, the Institute can tackle critical industry challenges such as capacity building, technological advancement, and policy alignment in line with international standards.

 

In his welcome address, the Ag. Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Dr. Kevin Okonna,

warmly welcomed the delegation and commended the CILT for its continued dedication to maritime and logistics education. He pledged robust institutional support for the CILT.

 

In a symbolic gesture, the CILT delegation presented a commemorative souvenir in form of a portrait to the Rector, honouring him as a distinguished member of the Institute.

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