As part of activities marking the 2017 World Maritime Day Celebration, the Management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has approved the institution of an essay competition to commemorate the event.
The essay competition titled “Connecting Ships, Ports and People” which is the theme for the 2017 World Maritime Day celebration is expected to be 1200 words long and is open to only first and second year students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria who must provide proof of studying at that level.
The winning prizes include Education Grant of N500,000.00 for the first position, N350,000.00 for the runner up and N250,000.00 for the third position with a laptop computer for each of them. There would also be consolation prizes of N100,000.00 for seven participants.
Speaking on the initiative, the Director General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside said that the idea of the Essay Competition is to stimulate youth interest and intellectual discourse in harnessing the potentials of the maritime industry.
According to him, “if we say that the youths are the future of tomorrow, we must get them quickly interested and even involved in proffering solutions to some of the challenges that bedevil our country.
“This competition will therefore provide the platform where students will provide their perspectives on how Nigeria can turn the potentials in the maritime environment into opportunities that will unlock the vast wealth in our blue economy”.
Dr. Peterside was optimistic that the essay competition will not only contribute to the robust discourse on realising the potentials of the blue economy but is also an opportunity for the Agency to support scholarship through the Education Grant.
The winners of the essay competition will be unveiled at the 2017 World Maritime Day celebration slated for Monday October 30, 2017 in Lagos. Further enquiries on the details of the competition can be found on the Agency’s website at www.nimasa.gov.ng.
