I acquired over 6,500 petitions in three years

The Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Commodore Duja Effedua (retd.), said he has received over 6,500 petitions in the last three years of his administration.

He claimed that by insisting on altering the stories of events at the academy, he made more enemies than friends and that he was constantly being contacted by anti-graft organisations.

Effedua, who is in his second term, said this while making his presentation before the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education, and Administration on oversight functions at the Academy recently.

He said, “This is my second term, which runs out next year, we have done all that we needed to do, and we do not need to stay more than necessary. There were challenges when I was appointed, it is not easy for people to accept changes.

“I met a lot of abandoned projects more than 39 of them, some were abandoned for years, I was then wondering what to do. I had to get an audit firm to audit the academy. let us know where we are coming from.

“We had to draw the line to reorganise the school, look at the classrooms we met, how can someone learn in this environment? I say no, we have to build modern classrooms, we can do it, it’s just attitude, but in doing this we hurt people, people don’t like what you are doing and that is why I am the most petitioned COE in Nigeria.

“I have received over 6,500 petitions as of three years ago, and there is no week that I’m not being invited by the antigraft agencies by somebody because some people think that the longer you stay, they no longer get what they were getting before.”

He said that the state of infrastructural decay at the academy was so bad that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) had threatened to delist Nigeria as a place where maritime students should be trained.

He also lamented the issue of funding for the academy, adding that he has only received 33% of funding from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, a situation he said has affected the academy on many fronts.

Reacting to the presentation during the interactive session held at the conference hall of the Nautical Building of the Maritime Academy, the chairman of the committee, Khadijah Ibrahim, said all contractors who abandoned projects from the inception of the institution would be investigated and made to account for every Kobo collected to serve as a deterrent to others.

Ibrahim, who was represented by the vice chairman of the committee, Hon Uduak Ududoh (PDP, Akwa Ibom), said that the committee would write to the institution on getting back to Abuja, adding that the practice of abandonment of projects after taxpayer money has been paid must not be allowed to continue.

“We will look back, to investigate the projects even from the inception of the school, and so, when we get back to Abuja, we will meet as a committee and mandate the clerk to the institution because we cannot continue this way.

“They (contractors ) are Nigerians, and if they have opportunity, they will embezzle the money and abandon the projects. So, when we get back, we will look at these things, it is Nigerian money that is involved,” Hon Ibrahim said

The committee chairman expressed sadness that the statutory 5% allocation from NIMASA to the Academy was not being remitted regularly and therefore resolved to summon the leadership of NIMASA to explain the shortfall in the allocation to the Academy.