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Regulators should enforce safety standards

Considering that inhabitants of most communities in the creeks and coastlines areas have no alternative means of transportation, boat accidents may be inevitable. But the frequency of such accidents in Nigeria has over the years become alarming. In the latest of what is now a festival of deaths on the nation’s waterways, the National Inland Waterways (NIWA) last weekend confirmed that no fewer than 41 persons died and 11 others were rescued in a boat mishap at Gorau community on the Goronyo River in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The NIWA Area Manager in Sokoto, Mr Abdulkadir Yusuf, said the boat was carrying about 82 persons when it recorded the accident that claimed many lives, including the community leader in transit to a rice farm for harvest.

Even before any official investigation, Yusuf has attributed the latest tragedy to negligence, overloading and violation of safety rules. We doubt if anyone would fault him. It is a notorious fact that there is hardly any ferry, canoe or the so-called “flying boat” that keeps to the exact passenger number specification. In some instances, boats that were constructed to carry not more than 20 persons could be loaded with 50 or more passengers, especially at peak periods when people are in a hurry to get back to their places of abode. Consequently, when the canoes encounter stormy conditions along the water, the sheer weight of the human cargo and other luggage would make them easily susceptible to capsize.  

  Aside from overloading, most of these boats are old and suffer from lack of proper maintenance. Perhaps more important is the obvious lack of safety standards. In fact, not much is still known about the existence of mandatory operational guidelines for ownership of ferries and boats, and the minimum standards that must be met to be in the business of ferrying people through the waters. This is where a lack of regulatory oversight comes in.

 Established in 1997, NIWA is saddled with the task of managing the nation’s 3000 navigable waterways from the Nigeria/Niger Republic and Nigeria/Cameroon borders to the Atlantic Ocean. These comprise Rivers Niger and Benue as well as the creeks, lagoons, lakes, and intra-coastal waters. NIWA’s mandate also includes providing “regulatory, economical and operational leadership in the nation’s inland waterways system and develop infrastructural facilities for efficient intermodal transportation system that is safe, seamless and affordable”. But the agency has been reduced to counting body bags after these tragedies. 

  It is unfortunate that almost everything worthwhile and ordinarily should be easily achieved always looks like a mountain in Nigeria. With the existence of waterfronts in various parts of the country and the increasingly devastating state of our roads, innovative leaders would have ordinarily explored the options of water transportation by heavily investing in our waterways with a view to making them safe. That sadly is not the case despite the fact that water transportation is one clear source of de-congesting the roads in places where road travel could result in frustrating hours on the traffic.

Going forward, we reiterate our call that operational standards be enforced nationally for those in the business of ferry and canoe transportation. The provision of emergency services along the waterways is also worth considering. It is disturbing that marine police are often missing in action in environs where water tragedies occur.  Should they not be permanently stationed around waterways and swiftly swing to action in case of accidents?   

 The authorities must put in place necessary safety measures. Travelling by water should not be a suicide mission. 

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