Did you know that the Nigeria Maritime University (NMU) situated in Delta State's Gbaramatu Kingdom, is the first paramilitary university and maritime college in Nigeria and in West Africa?

The Nigeria Maritime University (NMU), with its permanent site at Okerenkoko community, and take-off site at Kurutie community, both in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, was one of the initiatives of previous governments to address the Niger Delta agitations and to bring education closer to the people.

The inherited infrastructure for the take-off campus of the university at Kurutie community was formerly to be used for a diving institute by the Niger Delta foremost leader and activist, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo (who was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by the NMU in 2024). It was later transferred to the Maritime institute to facilitate its take-off while its permanent site, Okerenkoko community, would undergo construction.

The non-profit public higher educational institution, first of its kind in the Niger Delta region, is officially recognised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria. The NUC gave its approval for the commencement of degree programmes in the university which offers courses and programmes leading to higher education degrees such as bachelor degrees in several areas of study.

Then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan appointed a professor of Mechanical Engineering who was with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Professor Ongoebi Maureen Otebu as the pioneer Vice Chancellor, and Anho Nathaniel Esoghene as the pioneer Registrar, as announced by the Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations, NUC, Ibrahim Usman Yakasai, on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, in Abuja.

The NMU is the first paramilitary university and maritime college in Nigeria and West Africa. Its regimental unit composed of a Regimental Director, a Chief Cadet Captain Cadet Uwaoma Lloyd, who was its first, graduated in the 2017/2018 set. The set of 2018/2019 has its Chief Captain Cadet Jeremiah.

The passage of the NMU bill which seeks to provide a legal framework for the Maritime University was first sponsored by Senator James Manager, the senator representing Delta South Senatorial District in the Senate in 2016, and it passed for second reading on Wednesday November 16.

Senator Manager (PDP, Delta) who stated that the bill would promote education among the indigenes of the Niger Delta and added that Ghana was the only country in West Africa with a Maritime University, also argued that the maritime sector had huge potential requiring high level technical, scientific and administrative skills to drive it, and was of the view that the NMU would improve Nigeria’s capacity and manpower in the sector as well as bring development to the oil and gas communities, and curb youth restiveness in the area through employment.

However, few years later, precisely on May 30, 2019, then President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to the bill passed by the 8th NASS seeking the establishment of the NMU, and cited funding provision for the institution, which he said is grossly excessive and that it will disrupt the operations of a number of government agencies and institutions.

Rumour later followed that the institution was shut down for non payment of salary and poor welfare, specifically in 2021. The report was however dismissed by the then registrar of the institution, Dr. Alfred Mulade, who described the information as fake news and reaffirmed that the school is open for academic activities.

In April 2021, His Royal Majesty and the Pere of the ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, Oboro Gbaraun II (JP), Aketekpe Agadagba, in his address during the popular annual Amaseimokumor Festival added his voice to the clamour of the passage of the NMU bill said when he said, “We request the following from the federal government, speedy passage of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko bill into law and relocation of NIMASA Drydock/ship building yard from Lagos to its original location at Okerenkoko”

Also lending their voices, the executive council of Okerenkoko community, permanent site of the NMU, as led by its Chairman, Dr. Shedrack Otuaro, during the inauguration of the exco in June 2021, called for the full accreditation of the NMU.

The delay in the signing of the NMU bill further fueled agitation as the umbrella body of youths in the Ijaw Nation, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), while it vowed to resist any move to scrap the Niger Delta Ministry and any interventionist agency created by previous governments to redress issues of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta region, also flayed the long delay in the passage of the bill establishing the NMU.

Hope of the NMU bill being passed into law greeted the horizon when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assured of his administration's increased Federal Government support at the institution's maiden convocation ceremony held at its campus in November 2023. 

The President who was represented by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said the government will ensure that the institution becomes the maritime institution of first choice for all those who seek to make a career in the maritime industry and also to contribute towards the creation of employment and wealth in the highly competitive global maritime economy.

Earlier, in August 2023, the NMU bill was reintroduced by Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, the senator representing Delta South Senatorial District, and it swiftly gained support in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The reintroduced bill once again highlighted the bill’s importance for the people of the Niger Delta, where access to quality education has long been limited despite the region’s vast contributions to the nation's revenues. The senator also stressed the importance of the university will provide essential educational opportunities and further boost economic growth in the region. The bill later passed its second and third readings in November.

In March 2024, the House of Representatives' Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, pledged to fast track the passage of the bill establishing the NMU after Hon. Uduak Odudoh, the Deputy Chairman of the committee, led a delegation on oversight function to the university. According to the deputy chairman, signing the bill into law would enable the institution compete favourably with its counterparts across the world.

Finally, the NMU bill was passed into law in a statement released by the lawmaker representing Burutu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Julius Pondi, on his official Facebook account on Monday, January 27, 2025. The statement reads: “Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko establishment bill signed into law by Mr President. Congratulations to us all. It was a long walk.” 

That announcement was greeted with jubilation and celebration, and has finally laid to rest the clamour for the signing of the bill. However, the assent of the NMU bill has also raised the issue of funding. Speaking in that light, the IYC stated, “While commending President Tinubu, we urge him to prioritize the infrastructural development of the institution. The extensive land donated for the school at Okerenkoko, the permanent site, remains largely underdeveloped."

Recall that barely a year ago, precisely in March 2024, Mr. Odudoh (House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration), during an oversight function of the committee, while speaking on funding, had said: "I use this opportunity on behalf of the committee and the House of Representatives to immensely thank the Tompolo Foundation because from our assessment and reports, 40 per cent of what we are seeing here and the other campuses are done by the Tompolo Foundation. We also commend the communities for graciously donating large expanses of land; this shows that they want development," he added, buttressing the sacrifices that the Gbaramatu people have been making over the years to sustain the university.

Now that the NMU bill has been given assent, the next line of action is now for the President Tinubu-led administration to mobilise resources, toward not only the development of the Maritime institute's infrastructures, but also staff welfare, especially as poor funding has been seriously impacting on the NMU's operations.

SOURCES: Ships & Ports | Vanguard | NAN | The Nation | Policy and Legal Advocate Center (PLAC)

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