In the wake of the apparent rancor between the management of Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN Oron and leadership of   the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, SOAN, following allegation of   N27million partially unexecuted contract, Rector of MAN, Commodore Duja Effedua has stepped out to clear the air, giving SOAN a clean bill of health.

In a chat with Vanguard Maritime Report, Effedua provided all the missing links and blamed the news medium that broke the news and whoever leaked its letter to SOAN to the media as the culprit.
Excerpts

•Maritime Academy, Oron

By Godwin Oritse and Eguono Odjegba

THE recent squabble between the Ship Owners association of Nigeria, SOAN, and MAN over failed sea time contract caused quite some stir. How did it happen?

First and foremost, it was not intended to be a problem, it looks like some persons in SOAN had issues and leaked a letter we wrote to SOAN. We had lots of dreams, and we felt SOAN could help. We approached them and had an MoU to train our cadets, expose them to sea time which will also reemphasize classroom lecture. We sat and worked out the modalities, in which they also insisted that we pay them for the service which hitherto I thought would be done as gratis. But they explained they needed to buy fuel, stuffs and administrative running. I said fine, and we paid for the training spanning four and half months. During the planning, they forgot that we had ladies in our midst, because they no ship in Nigeria that is configured to take males and females together to sea apart from Nigerian Navy ships.

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At what point did the challenge become obvious?

Wait, I am going there. This government is determined to raise the gender balance, IMO is also encouraging that, and SOAN was genuinely out to help. Unfortunately, the arrangement couldn’t sail smoothly, at the point SOAN said sorry, we can’t take them onboard. They worry about the fact that molestation couldn’t be ruled out. In the Navy where I am coming from, there was no such challenge because the naval ships were designed for such. So at the point they pointed that gap out to me, I also worry and was not ready to let my girls risk take any risk. It might interest you to know that before then, two went for surgery, it is not right to go onboard ship when they were still recuperating.

Also, four couldn’t be accepted onboard because of this technical issue. Sadly we have paid and it is not my personal money that I could overlook even if I had such money. We have to account for government money and people are quick at making assumptions, it is not impossible that some persons out there could say I connived to waste government fund. The public could also ask me question, MAN board chairman could ask me question, the transportation ministers, lawmakers and the media could ask me questions.

Was that why you wrote letter to SOAN for refund?
Yes, to be on the safe side. I wrote to them in January and said look, I will call EFCC if I didn’t get refund. They didn’t say they wouldn’t give me the money, this is about four months ago. I even met the SOAN President on transit in Dubai. He was returning from China and I was coming from the UK, and we talked about it and agreed to meet last week. Our plan was that before the Easter those outstanding 13 cadets mostly from marine engineering and nautical science will undergo the training but unfortunately the corona virus challenge surfaced and this has overtaken that plan.

But the letter was leaked to the press
Yes, unfortunately, the newspaper that broke the matter didn’t act professionally, at least they should have gotten my reaction. Secondly, I cannot be held responsible for the leakage because it is not my business. We wrote that letter four months ago. Ordinarily I shouldn’t be talking about it but because the way it was presented portrays MAN as bad people to do business with, we are not. I don’t understand why internal wrangling will lead to leakages of official correspondence. Those who leaked the letter thought they were attacking SOAN leadership but forgot that they dragged MAN in and for me, it isn’t just a bruise, I see it as a collateral damage. I don’t have problem with SOAN or its leadership, I make bold to award them satisfactory pass mark in the area of business relationship with them. Only 13 is outstanding of 49 cadets, to that extent, SOAN has not really failed, we must situate this challenge as teething problem and nobody should misunderstand MAN’s position in respect of writing for refund.

Couldn’t you have asked for refund verbally?
Doing so would not accord it the required official weight. It wasn’t my personal money. But it is necessary to clear the air, because some reporters are trying to slant the story negatively. We have implicit confidence in SOAN and other ship owners, our position must be seen from the perspective of official correctness. The letter for refund of remaining money does not translate into problems, it was intended purely as official procedure; we don’t have issues with SOAN. After the Coronavirus blows away, we will resolve and continue to do business. In fact we need them next year. They will eventually do the sea exposure soon, SOAN has not said no and they are willing to refund. It is on record that some companies like Starz made refund at the earliest realisation of technical hitch.

Will you be willing to mediate in the present leadership crisis in SOAN
I am just a face in the crowd; I do not have the political clout to mediate in SOANs internal quarrel. I believe there are bigger people and the right people who can do that. We are all social animals and occasionally, we could have differences even amongst family members. Iam sure they will be fine, the Academy is not the right body to get involved in the issue. Our relationship with SOAN remains robust, I believe that whoever leaked that letter was out to score cheap political points, and in the process attempted to scratch and belittle us and I don’t like that. Let me also explain that reference to EFCC in our letter is a normal mechanism in debt recovery effort, in the event of unforeseen difficulties. We are fine with SOAN.

The Oron Union leadership paid you a visit earlier today, is there a problem?
The President General, Bishop Etim Ante, just took over and wrote to say they were coming. I am aware that he has been going around on this kind of visits and I didn’t see that as a problem. We shifted the visit severally but just said okay, its fine, come. In view of the Coronavirus ravages, this visit is going to be the last one until the pandemic is put under control in Nigeria.

I know that since assuming control here, you have shed much of what used to be undue interference in the affairs of MAN by certain groups, was there any MoU reached between you and Oron Union during your meeting?

No we didn’t have an MoU, it was purely a courtesy visit. The law permits MAN to relate with all shades of stakeholders, the Oron Union is an important stakeholder for as long as they know and respect their bounds. We will continue to relative positively in the overall interest of peace and development. We need each other, MAN will continue to relate with them on the basis of what I have outlined, to promote peace and development.

There are agitations and apprehension over plans to cut to size the employment quota of the indigenes of the host communities in MAN. How feasible is that plan?

I gave the Oron Union executives that visited me a graphical picture of the employment and admission statistics, when they requested that I increase the admission slot for indigenes. Like I told them, Oron people have enjoyed much higher employment quota than is due them as provided under the catchment area law, over and above the national employment scale of ratio in MAN. The records are there, the Oron people have also enjoyed admission quota far in excess of the recommended ratio. It is only now we are correcting the huge imbalance. Like I also told some lawmakers last year, I am not going to lay anybody off. But henceforth, we will work with provisions of the law as it affects the catchment area percentage allocation.
How has the outbreak of this scourge affected the Academy?

If you look around, you will notice that the Academy is empty, our students and cadets have returned home, we shut down. Cameroun is just about an hour away by water, our boundary is somehow porous. Seafarers who have gone around the world come around, we don’t know where they have been to, we don’t know who their ships have had contacts with or what they carrying. So we need to be cautious, so last Friday, we shut down and asked them to go home.

Including workers and external candidates on course here?
No not workers. Our cadets and those in mandatory short courses, we asked them to leave because we didn’t want to take the risks. More so, there is a Federal Government directive on it, so we have complied.
While addressing Oron Union leaders you talked about staff members with fake credentials, can you provide further insight?

I can’t because I still need details from WAEC and NYSC. As these details come in the number of those involved are growing. As at last Friday, NYSC gave me five names and they promised to give us more names. We have identified some with fake WAEC and NECO credentials, and we have asked them to resign. Failing to do so, we will hand them over to ICPC.

What cadre of staff is involved in this discovery?
It cuts across, junior and senior category, cuts across teaching and non teaching staff.
What about this contractor who is an indigene reportedly making trouble with the Academy, why haven’t you taken legal action against him.

Let’s not put it that way. I said he was awarded a contract which he abandoned, that was long time ago before I became rector. We tried to encourage him to restart but he failed to take the advantage and instead was always giving excuses. Once you pay him mobilisation he runs away. We have re-advertised and re-awarded the contract. I raised the issue just to let the Oron Union executives know that it is the other section of the nation that have so far been marginalised in favour of the Oron people.

Yet again, we observed completed projects we were told is the new Directorate building and nautical science block. We have also seen the fully computerized state of the art new gate, when will these projects be commissioned?

When the Coronavirus plague ends. Not just those, remember that we have acquired new simulators, they have been shipped from India and are on transit and trapped somewhere because the airports and seaports have been closed. So as soon as the Coronavirus pandemic is over, we will take delivery of the simulators and have everything commissioned same time. In all we have five completed projects, the new main gate, the survival pool, the modern volley ball and basket ball courts, the nautical building the admin block still under reconstruction which will be completed soon.

Before your appointment the Academy was being used as public thoroughfare by various community people, which we thought wasn’t right for cadets’ security and conducive learning environment. What have you done about it?

That issue has been resolved. We have fenced our compound and anybody moving anywhere must come through the main gate. Something happened and we felt the privilege has been irreparably abused. They carried a coffin through the Academy during working hours and I said no. Those criminal elements attempted to use that to attract my attention and to foment trouble. I came out to address them and they were asking for contracts and all that. They even went to the National Assembly and I told the lawmakers I have a right to lock my gate to prevent the public from using my house as main road. So that matter is history now.