Transportation commissioners under the aegis of Nigerian Transportation Commissioners’ Forum have decried the neglect of inland waterways across the country.
They therefore called on relevant stakeholders to give due commitment to the sector like the railway, aviation and road transportation.
The chairman of the forum, Engr. Gbenga Dairo, urged the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to be alive to its responsibilities.
Dairo spoke on the sidelines of the consultative forum on safety and security on inland waterways, organised by the forum and the Kwara State Ministry of Works and Transport in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“The fact is that inland waterways transportation is a neglected area in our country. We have to first accept this fact. There has been a lot of concentration on the railway, aviation and roads transportation sectors in the country. It’s now time for the same level of concentration and commitment to be placed on water transportation. It’s our hope that NIWA especially will be alive to its responsibilities.
Those of us who are in the states are willing to work with them and other stakeholders in order to ensure that the waterways are safe for transportation,” he said.
Dairo, who is the Ogun state commissioner for transportation, said there was need to empower local government authorities to ensure that they regulate and monitor activities of the nation’s waterways across local government areas in the country.
He said the expectation was that the important outcome of the meeting would be a determination to put together a team from the federal authorities, including NIWA and the state governments to work towards establishing a memorandum of understanding and protocols that would guide and govern the way we relate with one another in the interest of water transportation in the country
The representative of NIWA’s managing director, Olawale Tijani, said the promise to build a jetty at Patigi, Kwara State, following the recent boat mishaps that claimed about 107 lives last year had not been abandoned.
In his address delivered by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Mamman Jibril, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State said to curb rising boat mishaps with massive loss of lives and properties, there should be reforms that include targeted investment, infrastructure upgrade and improved regulation of water travels across the country.
The governor said NIWA should take the lead in that regard, adding that the authority should be supported by every stakeholder, including private sector players.
