- Best maritime students bag awards at 7th AMSAY conference
Maritime veterans unveiled some crucial nuggets for success in career growth and investments across various aspects of the nation’s shipping sector in a bid to empower students and young professionals in the sector.
These principles centered on creativity, doggedness, financial prudence, among others were shared at the 7th Annual Maritime Students and Youth (AMSAY) Conference themed: “Towards attaining Greener Shipping in Nigeria” organized by Platforms Communications in Lagos, last Friday.
Speaking at the summit, a former Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello OON, stressed that the bedrock of success begins with certain qualities, characteristics and virtues.
Bello, who was represented the Secretary General, Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and Central African Region, Capt. Sunday Umoren, posited that creativity and resilience should be regarded as indispensable for everyone who intends to thrive in this era.
His words: “Creativity breeds innovation and concepts. Green/Greener Shipping which has metamorphosed today was some years ago the brainchild of creativity. Creativity makes you stand out and is a brother of the spirit of excellence. It is the hallmark of success. It is that which sets you apart. At the onset, it may be seen as madness but later makes one a star.”
Meanwhile, he observed that there are five major fears that can impede creativity. Identifying them as; fear of the unknown, fear of being judged, fear of the first step, fear of losing, and fear of tomorrow or the future.
“You are in shipping and shipping is dynamic thus innovations and creativity should not be a one-off thing – recall the journey from manual propulsion of ships, use of sails, coal, fossil fuel and now “Greener shipping”. The guy that invented coal-fired boilers for ships will not have any royalty today and in fact, posterity would blame him for contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer. Meanwhile, this guy was a star in the early part of the century.”
“I therefore encourage all students here present to broaden your minds and see beyond shipping as it is today and even beyond Greener Shipping. Never stop learning because continuous learning will ignite a spark that will propel you into creativity, innovation and excellence,” he said.
Noting the challenge of inexperience limiting Nigerian young graduates in their bid to secure jobs, the President of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria, Mrs. Eunice Ezeoke admonished students to begin volunteering for shipping companies and other industry-based organizations during holiday periods while schooling.
According to Ezeoke, maritime students should also be willing to work for free or with little remuneration to gain valuable experience, even as she encouraged them to give their best while on internships for Industrial Trainings and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“If you think you’ll finish school and buy a ship, that’s a pipedream. The easiest way to gain experience is by rendering services. You’re in a service-oriented profession that doesn’t require capital outlay, so you should be willing to volunteer to work to gain experience. Volunteering is a popular concept in the more developed countries but it is also something Nigerian youths should embrace. When you volunteer for 1-2years, you gain experience, build contacts, networks and better position yourself to get good jobs or exploit this network in other ways to start making money”
“Ship owners have numerous needs because operating a ship can be likened to running a country. There are also needs of Maritime Bankers, Marine Insurance, Maritime Lawyers; some of these professionals may not have the time to gather the information that shoukd help their occupation. As you solve these needs you’re exposing yourself to better opportunities. There is also ship brokerage, manning, freight forwarding, among other aspects of shipping,” Ezeoke said.
During a panel session moderated by Dr. Emeka Akabogu, the Chief Executive Officer of Widescope Group, Mr. Segun Musa, encouraged maritime students to read wide, even as he stressed that with a little more persistence some young Nigerian professionals would become stars.
“Don’t limit yourself to your primary field of endeavour. Some of you will not get the jobs you desire, you will have to create the jobs. It’s high time Nigerian youths start looking out for themselves to create things for themselves. It mustn’t be done by the government,” Musa remarked.
Capt. Segun Akanbi also harped on the need for students to explore funding mechanisms via groups and alumni associations, noting that individuals like himself would be willing to put funds into ventures driven by focused young Nigerians.
Speaking further on financial prudence, he said; “learn how to partner with others. It mustn’t always be you alone. Save money to invest in other opportunities like small-scale fishing, small ferries and boats. You might not have the monies to own a ship or a barge but you can intentionally decide to save your seed funding. When you have a solid financial or business background, you’re also less likely to take an unpalatable work offers”
In his welcome address, the Chief Executive of Platforms Communications, Mr. Sylvanus Obasi noted that the conference, also known as ‘A Day With Nigerian Maritime Students’, allows maritime students air their views on maritime matters, ask pertinent questions on issues bothering them and seek practical knowledge of the industry beyond the classroom teachings.
As part of efforts to stimulate healthy academic competition amongst Nigerian maritime students, academic excellence was rewarded at the event through the Best Graduating Maritime Students Awards (BEGMASA).