Aderibigbe Charges MARAN to Consolidate on Legacies Laid by Past Leaders
Kathy Kyari
Former President of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), Mr. Dele Aderibigbe, has called on the association to strengthen and build on the foundations laid by its past leaders to ensure sustained growth and relevance.
Aderibigbe made the call on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Apapa, Lagos, during a ceremony to honour past presidents of the association for their vision, patriotism, resilience, and sacrifices.
Reflecting on his tenure as the 9th president of MARAN, he highlighted several initiatives aimed at improving members’ capacity and welfare, while acknowledging that some targets remained unmet.
"We wanted to produce four Ph.D holders, we could not achieve that. But we achieved the first one. The first one was producing thirty Diploma related courses in maritime. We secured it."
"We then proceeded to produce masters degree holders. Nobody was paying a dime. No beneficiary paid a dime. We secured 11 people who attained a masters degree at lautech."
"The next one is we realized that if we don't have laptops, we are going to be losing stories and therefore we needed laptops, Nobody paid a dime, we were in the trenches. We secured 50 laptops, one to each person, because we were 48 and the remaining 2 we kept at the secretariat."
He further stressed the importance of welfare, particularly housing, noting that his administration took deliberate steps to address the challenge among members.
"Then we sat down again and said the greatest danger to journalist is housing and accommodation. If we don't have land, how do we build? We immediately pulled out N2 million, We deposited it for land."
"We did another one, we pulled out another N2 million. we deposited it for another land and gradually we secured 50 plots of land free of charge for everybody and honestly we were working on trying to produce 5 doctorate holders for MARAN before I left".
Aderibigbe also paid tribute to MARAN’s pioneer president, Mr. Alban Opara, for laying a solid foundation for the association, while expressing appreciation to members for recognising the sacrifices of past leaders.
He currently serves as President of the Online Maritime Media Association of Nigeria (OMMAN) and Chairman of the Network of Nigerian Maritime Journalists (NNMJ).
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