R
Richard Ogunsile
Guest
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has announced its intention to gradually eliminate wooden boats from the inland waterways.
Speaking during an interactive session with editors in Lagos over the weekend, NIWA’s Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, noted that these boats are responsible for a significant portion of nationwide accidents.
According to Oyebamiji, this situation arises mainly due to a disregard for operational regulations, including a prohibition against nighttime travel, issues of overloading, and the failure to utilize life jackets by both operators and passengers.
Naija News reports that the discussion primarily addressed the safety of the waterways and the expansion of water travel.
Speaking further at the interactive session, Oyebamiji informed the editors that wooden boats make up more than 90 percent of the vessels operating on the waterways.
He also highlighted that night travel is considered a criminal offence, as many of these boats lack proper lighting.
Overloading remains a critical concern, and individuals with minimal education often operate the vessels, Oyebamiji noted.
To address these challenges in the short term, Oyebamiji stated that NIWA has significantly increased the number of its Marshals at jetties from 80 to 350, ensuring coverage across the entire country.
He mentioned that at least two marshals are stationed at jetties daily, working in both morning and night shifts and that the agency has initiated an extensive awareness campaign at jetties and through media channels.
This campaign is being conducted in both English and the local languages of the communities involved.
The NIWA Managing Director explained that the campaign aims to educate boat operators and passengers about the dangers of nighttime travel, overloading, and the importance of wearing life jackets, among other issues.
However, he reiterated that the long-term objective is to phase out wooden boats from operation entirely while also collaborating with the Presidency and the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, led by Minister Adegboyega Oyetola, to facilitate the nationwide replacement of wooden boats.
He said that for now, more patrol boats would be deployed by the agency to monitor operators, in line with the NIWA Code, adding that the Nigerian Navy was also assisting.
He added: “A lot of people bring God into this matter of safety on waterways when we are the problems ourselves.
“Our characters and our behaviours are the great determinants here. We will continue to push by applying education, enlightenment, and sanction, where needed, until we have zero fatalities on our waterways.”
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