No fewer than 638 staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has been promoted.
The promotion was approved by the Governing Board of the agency which has Major General Jonathan India Garba (retired) as its Chairman.
NIMASA remains the apex maritime regulatory authority in the country.
A breakdown of the staff showed that 85 management staff was elevated to their next grade levels.
While two Deputy Directors were promoted to the level of Directors, seven Assistant Directors were promoted to Deputy Directors. In the same vein, 76 grade level 14 officers were promoted to their next grade of Assistant Directors.
Those promoted to full Directors include its Head of Internal Audit, Mr. Victor Onuzuruike and the Deputy Director in charge of Research, Mrs. Christiana Budaye.
The Executive Management of the agency also approved the promotion of a total number of 553 non-management staff between grade levels 4-14, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 638.
NIMASA Head, Corporate Communications, Isichei Osamgbi in a statement made available to Maritime Bits said the promotions were ratified at the meeting of the board of the which took place in Lagos. Garba was said to have presided over the meeting.
Noting that it was a morale booster, Osamgbi quoted the Director General, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside reiterating the commitment of the executive management to reward hard work.
“It is true that the reward for hard work is more work, but on the other hand, hard work also comes with promotion. On our part as Executive Management we will continue to ensure that promotion exercises are conducted on a yearly basis and as at when due so that staff can be motivated to give their best to the course of rebranding the Agency and repositioning the maritime sector for greater efficiency. By this we will be able to focus and realize our mandates as an Agency,” Pterside was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, a staff of the agency also said: “This promotion is unprecedented in the history of the Agency and it has clearly shown that the Dr. Dakuku Peterside led Management is not reneging on its promises to rebrand the Agency and take it to the next level. This will make staff more focused and dedicated to their duties”
Other Staff who commented on the exercise remarked that this is the best promotion exercise in the history of the agency carried out in a very transparent and verifiable manner. They pledged their unalloyed support to the Dr. Dakuku led management and promised to add values to the ideals of the agency.
The Governing Board also used the opportunity to enjoin the newly promoted staff to dedicate themselves to duty as the promotions will certainly come with more responsibilities.
While also charging the newly promoted staff to bring in to bear their wealth of experiences over the years to the discharge of their duties in order to realize the vision of a robust maritime sector in Nigeria, it assured that henceforth promotion exercises in the agency will be conducted as at when due.
