BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ST. KITTS AND NEVIS has yet another accomplishment about which to boast with the recent graduation of the inaugural class of Unrestricted Surface Supplied Air Divers from the only certified diving institution in the region.
Over the weekend, 50 Nigerian nationals graduated from a six-month course at the Commercial Diving Academy (CDA) Technical Institute of the West Indies.
The students were schooled in a wealth of dive-related subject areas including physics, psychology, deep sea diving, shallow water diving, pipeline surveying and dive scenarios.
Instructor at the Institute Captain Ray Black, in giving an overview of the course explained that it was imperative to merge academics and practical applications.
“…Basically we teach the academics of what happens to your body, what you go through and then we put you in a practical application… it all makes sense when you start getting in that deep water.”
Black said with Nigeria being one of the largest crude oil-producing countries in the world, the graduands are in better position to return to their homeland and provide services which might have otherwise been imported.
“Nigeria is one of the largest producing crude oil in the world and basically they’re going to go back and be able to work in their country… you have the have the right credentials to be able to work for these big companies. This Nigerian Government gave them the opportunity to get trained and to be able to go back to their home country and…support their own natural resource. So this is a big success for Nigeria.”
He said it is also a notable success for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis as the Institute is the only of its kind outside of the United States of America, Europe, Australia and France.
Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Shawn K. Richards said the graduands will be ambassadors of the Institute and he expressed his hope that they would represent as best as they could.
“Today’s graduands will be ambassadors for CDA Technical Institute in their homeland or wherever else in the world they may take their skills and experience. The Team Unity Government trusts that they will represent the CDA Technical Institute of the West Indies well as shining examples of the level of education and mastery that can be acquired right here in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis under the direction of Captain Ray Black who is an active commercial diver and underwater welder.”
The Deputy Prime Minister congratulated the graduands on behalf of the people and Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and indicated that “our government is confident in CDA Technical Institute’s ability to produce some of the best commercial divers within the world”.
