The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on Wednesday, commissioned its Dockyard Training School in Lagos.
This is even as the authority said it planned to also partner the World Maritime University (WMU) and the Nigerian Navy Hydrography Department, as well as the Nigerian Institute of Marine and Oceanography Research and the University of Lagos.
The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, had recently expressed concern over the problem of scarcity of skilled workers. He said the scarcity was as a result of retirement of workers who had put in the mandatory 35 years in service.
Speaking during the commissioning of the training facility in Apapa, Lagos, Bello-Koko, explained that the commissioning of the training school was a testament of the agency’s resolve to institute continuous learning as a culture in the agency.
“As most of us are aware, having in place a robust talent pool is a necessary precondition for operating efficiently in the fiercely competitive terrain that port business is,” he noted.
He added that the complex had the capacity of training 380 persons with a 73-person lecture theatre, 122-seat hall, 50-person mini hall, six simulation classrooms and a 30-bed hostel.