The rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron in Akwa Ibom State, Commodore Duja Effedua (rtd), has said that he blocked the loophole in which staff of the institution and outsiders used to feed the school dry.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Oron after a tour of the academy, Efedua said he had blocked the leakages and repositioned the institution for academic excellence.
“I didn’t get extra funding to do what you have seen here; it is just that I blocked leakages in the system, and when you do that, corruption will fight back. The corrupt people and staff from within and outside are the cabals who benefited from the academy and milked it dry,” he said.
Before his appointment, the rector said the academy had almost collapsed while the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) threatened to de-register it.
“When we came in, the Academy was in a near-collapse. We are here to add value, not to steal money.
“I am here to reposition the Academy, because the IMO was at the verge of shutting down this institution, and if they had done it, imagine the rate of unemployment in the area.
“Eighty per cent of the funds sent by the federal government were always looted by the staff and the resident cabal within the environment, and some of them in Abuja, and that was why there was no progress in 39 years. The magic you saw now is more than three years job.
“Now we are the best in Africa in terms of equipment, and we are struggling to be best in the world. Also, we have trained our men to handle our equipment,” he said.
Efedua further said with fiscal discipline, administrative and academic restructuring, its cadets are better rated and have become fellows of the Nautical Institute in the United Kingdom.
More so, the rector said he paid 97 per cent of the debts he inherited.
He also said he inherited over 50 court cases against the institution.
“I inherited over 50 court cases and they kept coming up, and not even one of those who took us to court won. There are other contractors who finished their work and were not paid, even while the Academy was still being funded,” he added.
