The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has deployed 98 delegates for a boot camp and a refresher course in maritime-related skills as part of its manpower development scheme for the Niger Delta.

Addressing the maritime cadets during the flag-off ceremony at the Joemarine Institute of Nautical Studies and Research, Otomewo, Delta State, the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, said that manpower and human capacity development were critical to the economic growth of the region and indeed the country.

Otuaro described the deployment of the 98 maritime cadets as strategic and in tune with President Bola Tinubu’s policy on the blue economy to harness the massive opportunities in the country’s maritime industry for national development.

He noted that President Bola Tinubu was interested in manpower development for the nation’s blue economy, stressing that the PAP Office deployed the 98 maritime cadets to train skilled workers for the maritime sector of the economy.

Otuaro, in a press statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, on Thursday, urged the maritime cadets to take their one-month boot camp and refresher training seriously and demonstrate discipline throughout the programme.

The PAP helmsman said: “Today, we are starting with 98 delegates as maritime cadets for the blue economy. And you all owe us a duty to be committed to your study and demonstrate that the Niger Delta people are ready to key into the blue economy policy of the President.

Earlier in his speech, the PAP’s Head of Vocational Training Unit, Mr. Lambert Daunemighan, had explained that the training was designed by a team of personnel from the Presidential Amnesty Office, South Side International Resources (the consultants) and Joemarine Institute of Nautical Studies and Research.

The CEO/MD of Joemarine Institute of Nautical Studies and Research, Akpos Epidei, said that the institute had trained over 10,000 maritime professionals from different parts of the country within the past 14 years.