The National Association of Polytechnic Students has commended the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji, for adopting measures to ensure safety on our waterways.
The national secretary-general of the association, Agada Noah, disclosed this during a recent press conference in Lokoja, Kogi State.
“We use this medium to commend the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and the Managing Director of NIWA for gracious adoption and implementation of Nigeria’s Water Transportation Code into reality,” Noah said.
Noah also stated that the group acknowledges the fortification of the waterways surveillance for the enforcement of safety rules and regulations, “emergency response to security threats and safe waterways patrol.”
According to Noah, while pushing for safer waterways, NIWA has trained over 300 boat operators, distributed thousands of life jackets, recruited over 500 water marshals, and translated safety campaign materials into over 40 languages in the riverine areas, prompting the removal of logs as when due, among other things.
Noah stressed the need to tackle the root causes of these preventable accidents, maintaining that stakeholders must enforce stricter regulations on boat operators, ensure regular maintenance of vessels, and impose penalties for non-compliance with safety standards.
He listed the demands of the association to include, “The Federal Government should expedite the means of phasing out wooden boats and replacing them with modern fibre boats.”
He urged the federal government to pay more attention to NIWA by increasing budgetary allocations and increasing manpower.
“That the full enforcement of Nigeria’s Water Transportation Code be put into reality to check waterways accidents. That National Assembly members who come from the riverine areas focus on collaborating with the water transporters and provide modern facilities, campaigns, and sensitisation to reduce accidents,” he said.
He assured that the group remained committed to advocating the safety and well-being of Nigerians.
Earlier, the Managing Director of NIWA, Bola Oyebamiji, appreciated everyone for attending the event, noting that 99 per cent of boat mishaps are caused by human error, the attitude of boat operators, and passengers not adhering to safety protocols.
He also highlighted some of the achievements of the authority, including “recent nationwide sensitisation campaigns, donation of free life jackets, deployment of more water marshals, among others.”
