Sunny Edemenang – Uyo
For almost five decades, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN, Oron, has grown to play the pivotal ranking role in Maritime Education and Training (MET) in Nigeria and globally.
Founded in 1977 by Federal Executive Council No EC (77) 179 as Nautical College of Nigeria, by the assistance of the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, as an integrated institution for the education of Shipboard Officers, Ratings and Shore-based Management Personnel, the institution has graduated its first batch of Cadets in 1983.
By Decree No. 16 of 1988, the Nautical College of Nigeria as it was then known, was upgraded to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and mandated to train all levels and categories of personnel required for the effective and efficient operation of all facets of the Nigerian Maritime Industry.
The Maritime Academy of Nigeria is today widely considered the powerhouse of maritime education and training, and a force to reckon with in human capital development in Nigeria. The evolution of the Academy from its humble beginning as the Nautical College of Nigeria to its present status as the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, has been marked by visionary leadership and remarkable progress.
Under the present stewardship of Acting Rector Dr. Kevin Okonna, the institution has recorded transformative milestones that continue to earn global encomiums in the comity of over 500 Maritime Training Institutions globally. This feat comes under the astute watch of Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola CON, and the strategic leadership of the Governing Council, chaired by Engr. Kehinde Olayinka Akinola.
The margin of success of the institution within its forty nine years of existence suggests a quantum leap that makes Nigeria a pivotal key player in Maritime Education and Training (MET). The turning point came with ty acquisition of state-of-the-art simulators, access to financial resources and infrastructural facilities, adequate security and opportunity which not only make learning easy, but enjoyable. The Cadets feel confident with boosted esteem triggering their desires to excel.
The Academy seats on a sprawling 100 hectares of land in Oron, Akwa Ibom State. It has a waterfront along Calabar Channel.The campus is aesthetically covered with green and lushed grass, well paved lanes that provide excellent ambience conducive for learning.
The Academy has secured the commitments of shipowners and shipowners associations for the provision of onboard training opportunities for the cadets of Maritime Academy of Nigeria in line with the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy shortly after the Citizens and Stakeholders Engagement recently.
The success is phenomenal from the quality of training, qualified instructors, lecturers and administrative personnel. Nigeria’s Premier Maritime Education and Training Institution has over the years of its existence churned out quality Cadets and skilled Seafarers who can compete favourably with their foreign counterparts.
Nigeria takes pride in the Academy which has become a robust pipeline for Cadets in West and Central Africa. With the visionary leadership of the current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola CON, MAN, Oron, the Academy would soar to stratospheric heights going by his resolve at recent Citizens and Stakeholders Engagement in Oron, to operationalize the newly approved National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy.
“We are committed to ensuring that our seafarers, cadets, and maritime professionals are not only globally competitive, but also, well-equipped to drive the growth and sustainability of this sector,” the Minister pointed out.
According to Dr. Okonna, the Academy expects to graduate yet another set of over 200 well-trained cadets who will all be registered as members of major professional bodies with access to vast resources for Continuing Professional Development and networking with the very best in their professions come November, 2025.
It is on record that in 2024, the Academy trained a total of 4595 participants in short courses. Against, as at August, 2025, the institution received and trained a total of 3217 participants in forty-eight (48) Mandatory Short Courses and Certificates of Competency Preparatory Classes, including twelve (12) Simulator-based Courses on offer in the institution.
LIST OF COURSES ON OFFER:
The Academy has on offer Seven (7) Regular Cadetship training programmes with full accreditation from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and Forty-eight (48) Professional and Mandatory Short Courses in line with the STCW Conventions and other International Conventions with accreditation from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Buoyed by the state-of-the-art facilities/infrastructure, efficient and competent human capital and with the unflinching support from the Governing Council, the Acting Rector has made impressive successes.
Facilities that make the Academy unique include;
Survival Pools Complex with four covered survival pools, including: two pools reserved for STCW Personal Survival Techniques training, one pool for Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) and Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) and one pool for lifeboat drills. This year, a functional free fall lifeboat with a Launching Davit has been installed within the Survival Pools Complex. This is in addition to a Life-raft repacking workshop which has been functioning and used to repack liferafts in the institution for over two decades.
Significantly, the Academy has been relatively robust relationship with its host communities through implementation of its Corporate Social Responsibility. 3 new transformers have been procured and in collaboration with the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) company to intervene on
the Eket-Oron power supply line to reconnect public power to the Academy after about eight years of lack of power supply from the national grid.
Now there is improved power supply in the institution and in the entire Oron host community.
Other areas of success are;
As spearheaded by the Acting Rector, there is a Collaboration with Alumni of the Academy (AMANO) and other international professional bodies to enable curricular expansion and accreditation of courses, and registration of Cadets with professional bodies. For instance, the Academy has since January this year employed a total of seven (7) marine professional lecturers, including: two (2) Master Mariners with Unlimited (Foreign Going) Certificates of Competency. This includes an Indian Master Mariner Simulator Training Expert who left earlier, but has rejoined the Academy in September, 2025.
Others employed include; One Master Coastal Navigation (with other Foreign Going CoCs), One Chief Engineer (Unlimited), One Chief Mate (Unlimited), and two Deck officers (with Unlimited (Foreign Going) Certificates of Competency), in addition to professionals lecturers to close existing faculty gaps.
* A five year Strategic Development Plan for the institution has been developed and approved for the Academy.
* The first ever Conditions and Scheme of Service for the workforce since the inception of the Academy is receiving attention at the office of the Head of Service of the Federation. This is a major plus for the Dr Okonna’s achievements in his ten’s stay in office.
* Adequate funding has been secured to ensure continued improvement in quality training and infrastructures.
*Under the present administration, the Academy has Developed and secured approval for Port State Control (PSC) Officers Course in response to request from Abuja MoU on Port State Control for West and Central Africa.
* The recent Quarterly Engagements with Citizens and Stakeholders of the Academy as directed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have afforded the Citizens and Stakeholders the opportunity to see the impressive breakthroughs the Academy is making possible under the watch of Dr. Okonna.
The existing quality of training and intensive collaborations and partnerships with maritime professionals, companies and stakeholders is instrumental to Cadets’ outstanding performances in their various courses of study which has earned them laurels, cash benefits, automatic employment and industrial attachment placements in maritime organisations to mention but a few.
The classrooms are equipped for web-based/distance learning, with smart boards, computers, Air Conditioners, and public address system.
ACCOMMODATION:
There is a total of 260 hostel rooms for male and female cadets, as well as short courses hostels with a total of 100 rooms, all ensuite with bathrooms/toilets facilities and installed with alternative solar power supply. Accommodation is complemented with a
standard Guest house and on-campus accommodation for over 340 staff.
WORKSHOPS/LABORATORIES:
There are 19 Engineering workshops and laboratories including; a Marine Engineering workshop with functional marine engines, where Cadets disassemble and reassemble during practicals. A marine Exhibition Hall where ship parts and other marine components are on display for cadets especially first timers to see and feel, amongst others
MEDICAL FACILITIES:
The Maritime Academy Oron prioritizes the physical wellbeing of the cadets and the workforce. There is a standard Medical Centre with two brand new fully equipped ambulances to cater for the health needs of cadets and the workforce.
LIBRARIES:
The Academy boasts of a standard automated main library as well as an E-library in addition to Computer-station ICT Centre.
TRAINING:
Within ten months of the Acting Rector Dr Kevin Okonna, a total of seventy-five staff have been trained up to varying levels of qualifications and certifications up to lead auditors in line with ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System) and Educational Organization Management System (EOMS) towards the international quality standards certification of the institution.
The Academy acquired state-of-the-art simulators that are being perfectly maintained and utilized for STCW mandatory training of cadets and short courses participants from the industry. The simulators include; a Full Mission Bridge Simulator, Full Mission Engine Room Simulator, Virtual Reality (Ocular Vision) Simulator.
There is also a Multi-functional Classroom (MFC) Simulator which has eight (8) part-task simulators including; Radar/ARPA, ECDIS, GMDSS, Navigation/Manoeuvring, Dynamic Positioning, Liquid Cargo Handling, High Voltage, and Engine Room simulators in one classroom, and it is an innovation created through the partnership between the Academy and the globally recognized simulator manufacturers, the Applied Research International (ARI). The simulators have both International and Nigerian Port Areas and navigational channels for exercises. All the simulator-based courses are accredited and many of the courses are always fully booked ahead of schedule.
The deliberate drive to transform the Academy, in alignment with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has seen the Acting Rector lay a firm foundation for bold and forward-looking initiatives designed to redefine maritime education in Nigeria.
Demonstrating exemplary fiscal discipline, Dr. Kevin Okonna has redefined the Academy’s commitment to excellence in maritime education and training. His legacy is a living narrative of a perfectionist with a meticulous passion for making the Academy a reference point not just in West and Central Africa, but globally.
In just ten months on the saddle as Acting Rector, he has engineered a transformative shift in the Academy’s administrative landscape, ushering in enduring reforms and setting a legacy that will resonate for decades.
