{
  "id": 4965104,
  "title": "‘NSDP Designed to Build Indigenous Seafaring Capacity’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/nsdp-designed-to-build-indigenous-seafaring-capacity",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-01T23:35:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/09/02/nsdp-designed-to-build-indigenous-seafaring-capacity/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) was established as a strategic initiative by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to cultivate indigenous manpower within the maritime sector. Former Director of Cabotage at NIMASA, Onwuka Igwe, explained that this programme aimed to enhance Nigeria's capacity to assume control over coastal shipping within the nation's maritime domain. Igwe stated that the NSDP sought to cultivate a sufficient number of indigenous seafarers, ultimately aiming to phase out the need for waivers granted to foreign operators. He added that the NSDP was conceived to train Nigerian seafarers in diverse areas of maritime trade, addressing the issue of an aging seafaring workforce. As part of its accomplishment, the NSDP has trained nearly 2,500 young Nigerians in various disciplines of shipping and maritime trade at top maritime academies worldwide. These individuals are expected to form the backbone of personnel required to operate vessels engaged in Nigeria's Cabotage trade, thereby boosting local participation and lessening dependence on foreign seafarers. Igwe elaborated: \"The Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme is a project strategically designed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to train seafarers in various departments of shipping and maritime trade.\"",
  "summary": "Former Director of Cabotage at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Onwuka Igwe, has explained that the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) was introduced as a strategic initiative",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}