First maritime university gets approval

fuad lawal

May 13, 2015 8:37 PM

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of the first maritime university for the country.

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It also approved the revised National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Minister of Information, Niger Delta Affairs, State, Industry, Trade and Investment Patricia Akwashiki, Stephen Oru, and Kenneth Kobani, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

“In the (council) meeting, there was a ratification of approval of a provisional licence for the establishment of Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State,” Akwashiki said.

Kobani explained that the revised National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises was done because SMEs are strategic and important functionaries in any economy.

He explained, “The first national policy was 2007 and there were problems at that time because a lot of stakeholders needed to buy into it.

“This time, a more holistic approach was taken to ensure that extensive consultation with all the stakeholders had to take place and they all endorsed this particular one and so as a result of that they also came with a recommendation that will replace the National Consultative Council with the National Council for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Council, to push to ensure that it will be a major contributor to the economy.”

Kobani added that the council approved the renewal of the contract for the production of 10 million Nigerian passport booklets of all categories.

He said the renewal became necessary following the expiration of the 10-year contract between the ministry and the contractor.

fuad lawal