The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the weekend commissioned a twin Lecture Theatre at the Kaduna State University (KASU) Kain campus and also an Entrepreneurship Centre in Zaria all in Kaduna State.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Kaduna and Zaria, the Minister of Transport, Alhaji Mu’azu Sambo, commended the agency for embarking on projects that are aimed at poverty alleviation and development of human capacity.
According to him, “the projects are a testament to the unending commitment of the Federal Government to building structures with long-lasting socio-economic rewards.”
Alhaji Sambo said the projects will have a life-changing impact on the people. Adding that, “Over the past few weeks, we have travelled across the nation to commission lofty projects initiated and completed by NIMASA.
“NIMASA has proven to Nigerians and indeed the whole world that it is a socially responsible organisation, playing its part in poverty alleviation through the implementation of projects targeted at human capacity development”
He said, the twin Lecture Theatre donated to KASU by NIMASA will further provide a comfortable learning environment for students and serve as a centre for the development of competencies in the maritime sector.
The minister noted that KASU is one of the budding universities in the country that deserves every attention and support to make it compete with other institutions of learning across the globe.
“Indeed, the delivery of the twin Lecture Theatre which is fitted with modern learning gadgets will further advanced the university’s reputation”, he added.
The minister commended the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, for the completion of the projects.
He further commended the Kaduna state government for its support throughout the delivery of the projects.
In his address earlier, the NIMASA DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said the intervention projects were part of the agency’s policy on infrastructural development of educational system in the country.
“We are doing similar projects across the six geo-political zones of the country.
“We have selected two key areas where we believe if we tackle them head-on, we will be able to address so many of the challenges that we are having in terms of security.
“These areas include education and job creation. This is why in Zaria, we are commissioning skill acquisition centre to address the challenges of job creation of over 60 per cent of the teeming youths in Nigeria”, Jamoh said.
“These projects we are commissioning today are the first of its kind in line with our policy. We are doing similar projects across the six geo-political zones of the country. We have selected two key areas where we believe if we tackle them head-long, we will be able to address some of the challenges that we are having in terms of security.
“These areas include education and job creation. This is why in Zaria, we are commissioning skill acquisition centre to address the challenges of job creation of over 60% of the teeming youths in Nigeria.The idea is to see how we can apply non-kinetic approach to the security challenges bedeviling this country. This security challenge is not only peculiar to the areas where we have water, but also land. Because most of the crimes that we are experiencing today, start on land and end on water. This is why we have to touch everywhere.
“We will continue to contribute our own quota to the development of this country in terms of maritime and interns of security, be it land security or our own waterway security” he stressed.
On his part, the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli said, the need for skills acquisition cannot be overemphasized stressing that, “This project will be of immense benefit to the people of Zaria and the country at large.”
According to him, “Strategic investment in human capital is key to the development of any nation and that is why I am always preaching for entrepreneurship and for us to graduate from rent seeking jobs.”
He therefore commended the NIMASA DG for sponsoring 2,500 young people at the Maritime Training Institute, noting that he has empowered them for life.
