The Rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Commodore Duga Effedua (rtd), has said the misuse of funds meant for the institution almost led to its shut down.
The Senate recently passed the bill that transformed the institution into a university.
Effedua, who said 80 per cent of funds released to the institution by the federal government in the past were misused, added that but for his timely intervention, the International Maritime Organisation was on the verge of shutting down the academy.
He revealed that he has successfully saved money that has been used to turn the academy around by blocking all the drain pipes in the system.
Speaking on Tuesday in Oron during a tour of the academy by the leadership of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State, the Rector said about 97 per cent of debts he met has been settled, noting that everyone who took the academy to Court did not win.
He mentioned that the academy had trained 15 men to handle equipment in the institution, adding that it would have been up to 30 men but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that 120 professionals who will add value and change the narrative of the institution have also been recruited.
