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Nigerian Maritime E-quiz For Secondary Schools Students Set To Hold
First of its kind Nigerian Maritime E-quiz, a School to Sea Campaign for Secondary Schools Students in Nigeria is set to take place in Lagos on Monday September 24, 2019.
The E-quiz which will herald the 25th September Investors In Human Capacity Development in the Education and Maritime Sectors Summit and Awards is being packaged by Mrs V.O Williams the principal partner of Vow Ventures through her NGO, Ocean Ambassadors, whose Chairman is Chief Tunde fanimokun.
According to the Principal Partner, the E-quiz will enable Secondary School students to appreciate Maritime courses and the career opportunities in it.
She said; “The National Maritime quiz is first of its kind in Nigeria and the simple reason behind it is that, Nigeria is a maritime nation and we have so many states that are coastal communities like; Akwa ibom, Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Cross river and Bayelsa but, if you ask an average student in those areas if they know about maritime careers, they would not understand what you are even saying.
On the 25th we would have the School to Sea Summit whereby we would bring maritime and education stakeholders to come together to see how we can start the sensitization, how we can create the awareness in various schools so that maritime would be on the lips of every child. We would also have awards for our past sponsors like, NIMASA Sifax, Enl, Tcip, Nigeria Shippers Council, Nigeria Export Promotion Council and a host of others since 2015 to be accompanied by a boat cruise for both investors and stakeholders to see what the shoreline of Lagos is. We have to demystify the fear of no go area for water, eradicate the phobia and by the next year we shall be having such conference, we shall surely have improvements.
Lagos State which is a coastal community with concentration of schools don’t know about maritime careers nor know how to chart a way forward for students when they fail Jamb and admission to the University isn’t possible. So, we decided to have many tools to creating the awareness at an early age for secondary schools students. The concept is to catch them young in the area of transportation, trade and tourism mega sector of the economy so, we brought out maritime because, in maritime there are vast opportunities.
Now the global village is talking about blue economy, when we don’t even know what the maritime is all about, how can we now plug into the sustainable development goals for blue economy for the African nations not to talk of at the global level? So, we have to start the sensitization now. We have been doing it for like five years and the project was endorsed by University of Lagos (UNILAG), the department of Geography to the Post Graduate level. We had a mini-quiz for just the private schools students within Lagos state and the first, second and the third prize winners were taken to Ghana to have another maritime experience which opened the children’s eyes.
These children are now in love with maritime, one of them is now in the University in Warri, one wants to go into maritime studies and the other wants to be a sea captain. So, all these children need is exposure and you will see that the nation will have so many seafarers, logisticians because, maritime is not only about sea fearing, we have engineers, naval architects and so many other careers embedded in it.
We have now gone ahead to come up with the concept of the National Maritime quiz, the first of its kind and we are using Lagos state as our starting point to represent South West because of the concentration of schools. We’ll be having an expanded event come September 24, 2019 where both public and private schools will be meeting in Unilag to attend the first ever maritime E-quiz in Nigeria and by December, we will be moving to portharcourt to represent the South East and the South/South, then next year we move to Abuja for the Northern parts of the country.
We are using this opportunity to appeal to sponsors to come and partner with us to help fashion out a different horizon for the well-being of this upcoming generation because if we don’t do it now, we would have another neo colonization, there would be a gap. As it is now, we are clamoring for Nigerian vessels, who will Man these vessels? Is it the same foreigners again? And we are talking about local content, where does local content come in If we don’t catch them young now? What stops Nigeria from emulating the Asian countries that have best seafarers and are training and encouraging their students to learn on the field? So, we want this upcoming generation to rewrite the maritime history of Nigeria in the global space and i’m sure we would get there very soon.
Our minister for transportation is someone who likes empowerment and everything that will add value to institutions and human development so, we are appealing to the Federal Ministry of transportation to collaborate with Federal Ministry of Education at the Federal level to include Maritime studies into the curriculum even if not full curriculum, let it be extra-curriculum whereby the children will take visits to seaports, board vessels to create a thirst for the children to take on maritime related studies and once there is a synergy between the two Ministries, it will automatically be domesticated in each state regardless of it being a coastal state or not.
We would have maritime tourism, maritime transportation because the roads are crying out for help so, by the time we have maritime transportation the country will achieve.
At least 23 people were killed in a series of suspected suicide bombings, police in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri said on Tuesday.
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More than 100 other people were injured in the blasts that took place on Monday evening in the capital of Nigeria’s restive Borno state.
No group has claimed responsibility for the suspected attacks.
The deadly blasts come after a military post was attacked overnight Sunday to Monday, which authorities blamed on suspected Islamist militants.
This sad incident is coming barely two weeks after Primate Elijah Ayodele, the Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church specifically warned against attacks in some states. He mentioned these states while calling on security operatives to pay close attention to them.
These were his words:
“Another attack is coming up in these following states where the military must watch carefully and intelligently; Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Kwara and Kogi state. They want to do a deadly attack, it’s preventable but it depends on how they will handle it. I have told you about the danger coming up.”
@primateayodele
Unfortunately, some of our military agencies don’t believe spiritual intelligence can save the country from so much danger hence, their neglect of this prophetic warning but now, it has been fulfilled with the miliary losing credibility by the day while Primate Ayodele continues to gain momentum.
Likewise, At least 26 passengers and crew sustained varying degrees of injuries on Monday following an accident involving the Kaduna–Abuja train, according to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
Opeifa explained that the train departed Rigasa in Kaduna at 7:15 a.m. and was approaching Asham station around 9:16 a.m. when a loud bang was heard after the power car and trailing locomotive collided with one of the passenger coaches.
In July 2025, Primate Ayodele asked nigerians to pray not to see train mishap on the Kaduna-Abuja route.
@primateayodele #nigeriantiktok🇳🇬 #fulfillment #train #abuja #primateayodele
“Let’s pray not to see train mishap in Abuja-Kaduna, Kaduna-Abuja route.”
This has also been fulfilled.
The project ends decades search for investors, boosts Nigeria’s blue economy
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
Nigeria’s maritime sector is set for a major transformation following a landmark agreement involving the world’s largest container shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which has secured a 45-year concession to build, manage and operate a modern container terminal at Snake Island Port in Lagos.
The project, to be developed in partnership with Nigerdock, marks one of the most significant private sector investments in Nigeria’s port infrastructure in recent decades and is expected to strengthen the country’s role as a major maritime gateway in West and Central Africa.
For Nigeria, the agreement brings to close decades of efforts to attract large-scale investors to develop Snake Island Port, a strategically located maritime asset in Lagos.
Long-standing concession history
Snake Island’s maritime facilities date back several decades. In 1992, the Federal Government granted a 99-year concession for the island’s port and industrial facilities to Nigerdock, a major maritime engineering and logistics company.
Nigerdock was later privatised and is currently operated by the Jagal Group owned by Nigerian industrialist Maher Jarmakani.
Over the years, the Island Container Terminal fell into disrepair, requiring major rehabilitation and modernization to meet modern global shipping standards.
The new partnership with MSC is expected to transform the port into a state-of-the-art container handling facility capable of attracting larger vessels and increasing Nigeria’s cargo throughput capacity.
Buhari administration approved the project.
The investment framework for the Snake Island development was approved in May 2023 by the Federal Executive Council under then President Muhammadu Buhari.
The approval authorised total private investment of approximately $974.1 million for the project under a Public-Private Partnership structure, including the 45-year concession period.
At the same time, the Federal Government also approved two other major maritime infrastructure projects:
• Development of the Ondo Multipurpose Port in Ilaje, Ondo State, with $1.48 billion in private investment and a 50-year concession.
• Expansion and development of the Burutu Sea Port in Delta State, involving $1.2 billion in private investment and a 40-year concession.
These projects form part of Nigeria’s broader effort to develop its blue economy and expand maritime trade capacity.
Construction partners
Engineering and construction of the Snake Island container terminal will be handled by:
• ITB Nigeria Limited
• DEME Group
ITB Nigeria Limited is part of the Chagoury Group and owned by the Chagoury family, while DEME Group is a globally recognised Belgian marine engineering and dredging company with extensive experience in port construction.
MSC profile
Founded in 1970 by Italian shipping entrepreneur Gianluigi Aponte and his wife Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, MSC has grown from a single cargo vessel into the largest container shipping company in the world.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the company operates in more than 155 countries and serves over 500 ports worldwide, with a fleet of roughly 900 container ships and over 200,000 employees globally.
The MSC Group also operates major logistics and maritime businesses including inland logistics through Medlog, cruise tourism through MSC Cruises, and port terminal operations across several continents.
According to Forbes, the estimated net worth of MSC founder Gianluigi Aponte is about $43.9 billion as of February 2026, placing him among the world’s richest shipping magnates. The company remains privately owned by the Aponte family, with both founders holding equal ownership stakes.
Management comments
Speaking on the development, MSC Group President Diego Aponte said the company is committed to strengthening its operations in Nigeria and across Africa.
“We are proud to expand our presence in Nigeria through this important infrastructure project. The Snake Island terminal will enhance service delivery and improve port efficiency for our customers and partners in the region,”
Chief Executive Officer of Nigerdock, Maher Jarmakani, described the agreement as a major milestone for the Nigerian maritime sector.
“We are delighted to partner with MSC in developing a world-class container terminal that will enhance Nigeria’s logistics capabilities and support economic growth,” he said.
Economic impact
Industry analysts say the project could significantly strengthen Nigeria’s maritime economy by expanding cargo handling capacity, reducing congestion at Lagos ports and attracting additional international shipping traffic.
The development is also expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs across maritime operations, logistics, transport services and port-related commercial activities.
Infrastructure expansion
Beyond the port development, plans are also underway for Nigeria’s first underwater tunnel, linking Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island through Snake Island and connecting the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway with the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway corridor through Badagry.
The tunnel project is expected to significantly improve freight movement and road connectivity between Lagos ports and national transport networks.
Strategic milestone
With the entry of MSC into the Snake Island development, industry observers say Nigeria is taking a significant step toward modernizing its maritime infrastructure and positioning itself as a regional hub for global shipping and trade.
For a project that has waited for decades for major international investors, the Snake Island concession represents a turning point in Nigeria’s port development strategy and a strong signal of global confidence in the country’s maritime future.
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
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