Senate upgrades Maritime Academy to varsity

The Senate, Wednesday passed a bill to upgrade the Maritime Academy, Oron in Akwa-Ibom State into a full-fledged University of Maritime Studies.

Also passed was a bill to establish the Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Ogoja, Cross River state.

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Both bills were passed after the presentation and consideration of two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.

Senator Sandy Onor (PDP, Cross River), in a presentation on behalf of the committee’s chairman, Ahmad Babba Kaita (APC, Katsina North), said upgrading the academy into a university would help Nigeria in achieving the prerequisites of the International Maritime Organization convention on standard of training, certification and watch-keeping for seafarers.