The General Manager, Marine Operations of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Joseph Ororo, has said that poor educational background of skippers and captains in brown water operations necessitated the move to train operators, especially executive boat operators.
Ororo, who disclosed this in a chat with Financial Street on Friday, reiterated the agency’s commitment to build capacity for boat captains and skippers operating in the Lagos waterways.
He maintained that the training would be compulsory for the operators, adding that the agency would license the participants as certified captains at the end.
“NIWA, with collaborative support from accredited institution, will design a curriculum for training of the skippers,” the GM said.
Ororo hinted that the training is to be categorised into three phases, and would include practical and theoretical methodology.
“This training of our boat operators is long overdue. We have started it in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states, but Lagos is the ‘Centre of Excellence,'” he added.
