GOODWILL MESSAGE BY MR EMMANUEL MAIGUWA. PRESIDENT OF ALUMNI OF MARITIME ACADEMY OF NIGERIA ON THE OCCASION OF CADETS GRADUATION

On behalf of the Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron (AMANO), I wish to congratulate the graduating cadets of the regular OND and HND courses of this great institution. I also wish to profoundly and most importantly welcome you into the Alumni family of AMANO.

I am highly honoured to stand with you today in this beautiful auditorium to not only appreciate the significant progress of the Academy in terms of quality infrastructure in place but the quality cadets that the Academy has produced. Permit me to say that you are on the right path to becoming future leaders of our dear maritime industry because I am confident that the Academy has equipped you all with the knowledge, skills and discipline needed to start a career both on vessels and ashore. 

Let me add that going by your learning experiences, you will need to be mentored further in order to consolidate your knowledge, skills and discipline as you proceed to vessel and onshore roles. 

You should therefore endeavour not to leave behind any loving memories of this environment even where such memories are uncomfortable at the beginning, especially the regimentation. memories like:

• Working together in a group to deliver a term paper 

• Singing “moral”  in divisions and calling your names – the only time you can make gest of your officers and instructors

• Walking in synchronized steps

• Buying and serving jobs 

Take such memories with you as you leave this place. I can assure you that these memories still keep me going in my day to day life. Most of them inspire me in my goals even though my time here was different from yours. But that is the strength of the Alumni – mixtures of different experiences in the academy. 

Let me advise further that you must not forget the virtues that have bonded you together with other colleagues, especially the virtues of friendship, togetherness and teamwork resulting from the discipline of knowing ourselves by our surnames. This will be with us for the rest of our lives.

Furthermore, as you go into your world, please endeavour to invest in human capital, make friends beyond the Alumni and the maritime industry because as said by Kevin Kelly “a Friend with a Boat is better than owning a Boat”.  Whether you become a Ship Captain, Engineer, Ship Manager or you venture into other industries/professions to become Medical Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, Soldiers, Politicians etc you will find this friendship useful.

Remember that the Goal of AMANO has always been to keep all graduates of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria stay connected and contribute excellence to the Academy and the Maritime industry in Nigeria. Hence, from now onwards your journey into contributing to the academy and industry commences today. I urge you to take this challenge and develop yourselves. 

Permit me to say that it is not a mere coincidence that this year’s graduation came with a week fully loaded with lectures to prepare you for the industry. Please hold on to the lessons from these lectures which have been presented mostly by Alumni members who were here before you. One day some of you will find yourselves presenting papers on this same platform!

I sincerely congratulate you on this Graduation/Passing Out Ceremony. As I prepare to leave let me assure you that the entire members of AMANO and my humble self look forward to meeting you in the field.

 Thank you

*Emmanuel Maiguwa*

*AMANO President*