The process of disbursing the long-awaited Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to Nigerian shipowners has commenced, the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Uduak Odudoh, has said.

He credited the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dayo Moberola, for driving the milestone.

Odudoh made the disclosure during the committee’s oversight visit to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State – a visit that also laid bare the institution’s most ambitious one-year performance record in recent memory under Acting Rector Dr. Kevin Okonna.

“By the grace of God, and the wisdom of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, and the effort of the Director-General of NIMASA, the processes of releasing those funds to shipowners in Nigeria has started,” Odudoh told cadets assembled at the parade ground. “In less than no time, those monies will be disbursed. Once they are disbursed, shipowners will now expand — if they were having one ship, they will go to two ships, more vessels.”

The lawmaker, who represents Ikot Abasi/Mkpat Enin/Eastern Obolo Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State, said the fleet expansion triggered by CVFF disbursement would directly benefit MAN graduates, describing the institution as the most efficient maritime training academy in West Africa, recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). “It is our wish that once you finish, like your predecessors who are today onboard vessels, you will also be onboard vessels when you leave,” he told the cadets.

The committee’s visit came against the backdrop of a presentation by Acting Rector Dr. Kevin Okonna, who laid out a sweeping account of the academy’s 2025 performance that drew sustained commendation from lawmakers across party and state lines.

Okonna disclosed that of the 212 cadets who graduated from MAN in November 2025, 80 have since secured employment onboard vessels, a figure that electrified the committee and addressed the academy’s most persistent challenge: post-graduation unemployment. “During those years, the challenges had always been: where would the graduating cadet officers go after graduation? Today, the rector reeled out that about 80, as we speak, have onboard vessel. That gives you hope” Odudoh recalled.

A centerpiece of the academy’s employment drive is a three-year Memorandum of Agreement signed with NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Limited (NLMSL), which has already placed 43 cadets aboard NLNG vessels — 13 in December 2024 and a further 30 in late February 2026. Okonna noted that the Nigerian Shipowners Association also provided critical onboarding opportunities during the graduation period, with stakeholders visibly competing to recruit MAN cadets.

“It was during the graduation when I saw how stakeholders scrambled for cadets that it dawned on me that the Maritime Academy under Okonna has indeed made a lot of improvements,” Rep. Paul Ekpo, representing Etinan/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom, said. “The graduation ceremony was a very rewarding event — not just taking a child here and at the end of the day they struggle to get a place to work.”

Okonna noted that on March 11, 2026, the eve of the committee’s visit, MAN Oron received certification of its quality management system from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, conforming to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001:2025. He described it as a landmark, noting the academy had never held quality management certification since its establishment in 1977.

The rector also announced active partnership negotiations with the Liberia Maritime Authority, driven by MAN’s ambition to attract foreign students and generate additional sea-time opportunities for Nigerian cadets.

“Liberia has the largest fleet of vessels in the world, yet does not have an institution near what we have. We approached Liberia to send their youths to MAN Oron, and in return, our cadets will gain sea-time training advantages aboard Liberian vessels,” Okonna explained.

He said a delegation including members of the academy’s governing council recently visited Monrovia for talks, with officials from the Liberian Maritime Training Institution expressing eagerness to visit the Oron campus.

Other 2025 milestones presented by Okonna included the establishment of the academy’s first-ever staff conditions of service, approved by the Head of Service of the Federation, and the development of a five-year strategic development plan submitted to the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

The academy, he said, also registered all graduating cadets with at least one international professional body: nautical science cadets with the Nautical Institute, marine engineering cadets with E-Marit, and maritime transport studies cadets with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). An MOU with the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control was also signed, following the academy’s development of a training course for Port State Control Officers in the sub-region.

He said wtudent numbers rose from 180 graduates in 2024 to 221 in 2025, while participation in specialised training courses climbed from 4,595 to 4,959 in the same period. The campus, he said, currently hosts 654 regular cadets across programmes in nautical science, marine engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, and maritime transport and business management.

The visit included an on-the-spot inspection of capital projects funded through the 2025 appropriation, including rehabilitation of the academy’s fire bay and survival pools, construction of a 500-seater auditorium complex, new access and internal roads, and the installation of solar-powered boreholes for the campus and host community.

Engr. Rodney Ambaiowei, the lawmaker representing Southern Ijaw in Rivers State and himself a former beneficiary of MAN’s practical training facilities during his engineering studies, commended the management while flagging budget inadequacies. “It is very appalling to see the meagre sums allocated for trainings for cadets and the even smaller amounts actually released,” he told the committee. “If we want this school to move forward, we have to improve on the budget to fund the institution in order to attract foreign students.”

Ambaiowei also advised the academy’s management to actively lobby National Assembly members to channel constituency capital projects to the institution.

Olufemi Ogunbanwo, representing Ijebu Ode/Odogbolu/Ijebu North East Federal Constituency in Ogun State, echoed those calls. “I want to commend you on the way and manner you have managed the meagre amount made available to you, and I plead with my colleagues that we should look at ways of bringing projects to support the academy,” he said, pledging the committee’s continued backing.

Mark Esset, representing Uyo/Uruan/Nsit Atai/Asutan/Ibesikpo Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom and a self-described “son of the soil,” gave perhaps the most pointed assessment. Contrasting this visit with a previous oversight that devolved into open conflict between management and staff, Esset declared the transformation remarkable. “Last time we came, there was almost a physical fistfight between the Rector and the staff. Today the reverse is the situation — you have shown capacity, leadership, and the spirit of teamwork.”

He also raised the question of pending litigation between MAN and staff, as well as with the host community, and Okonna confirmed that while cases remain active, many have been resolved and no new ones are being added.

On the corporate social responsibility front, Okonna detailed how the academy constructed a market for the Eyo Abasi host community, installed a solar-powered borehole in response to complaints about river water consumption, restored public electricity supply to the Oron community after an eight-year blackout, and provided solar power to the palace of the Paramount ruler — initiatives Odudoh specifically commended.

Wrapping up the oversight, Odudoh delivered the committee’s verdict unequivocally. “From what the rector briefed us and what we have seen on ground, we are satisfied — satisfied in the areas of infrastructure, satisfied in the area of international partnership. What we noticed is that the rector has consolidated on the performances of his predecessor and improved upon that.”

Asked what MAN should expect from the National Assembly in 2026’s budgetary cycle, Odudoh drew a direct link between accountability and funding. “The most important thing is not approving the budget, the most important thing is accountability. Today, the rector has displayed the level of accountability we expected. Going forward, we will not hesitate giving him subsequent approvals.”

Okonna further noted the institution sits on about 100 hectares of land and remains committed to delivering internationally recognised maritime education and training in line with global standards.

“Our vision is to be internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in maritime education and training, and the support from the National Assembly has been instrumental in helping us maintain and upgrade our facilities,” he said.

In his closing remarks, Okonna urged Nigerians and international stakeholders alike to view the academy as a national asset worth protecting. “You don’t have two or many institutions with the size of this one and these facilities. We have to put hands together to get the benefit from the academy and that’s why we are driving this international partnership with every energy in us to bring international students to benefit because it’s enormous. We have to protect it, promote it, and get the best benefit from this facility,” he said.