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In this piece, industry players and experts explain how to tackle the rising boat mishaps in the country’s waterways, ANOZIE EGOLE writes
With over 10,000km of navigable inland waterways comprising rivers, creeks, lagoons, lakes, and intra-coastal waters, coupled with aquatic life, Nigeria is richly blessed to attract foreign tourists and, thus, foreign direct investments.
Available facts show that River Niger is the longest river in West Africa and the 11th longest in the world. The river has its main tributary (which is River Benue), the Delta creeks as well as the lagoons bordering the coast from the principal navigable waterways in Nigeria.
It is also instructive that these principal navigable waterways are the major transportation routes linking Apapa, Tincan, Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, and Calabar Seaports and the numerous river ports and jetties.
Through the lagoon and Delta creeks, a water transport route is established between the hinterland and urban centres of Nigeria on River Niger. This goes as far as Niamey in the Republic of Niger and Garua in Cameroon on River Benue.
To oversee these and activities pertaining to them and ensure safety on the nation’s inland waterways, the National Inland Waterways Authority was established by Decree No. 13 of 1997 (now an Act) with a clear mandate to manage Nigeria’s vast inland waterway resources.
The law vests in NIWA the power of exclusive management, direction, and control of the Nigerian inland waterways. This power is exercised on Nigeria’s 3000km of navigable waterways from the Nigeria/Niger and Nigeria/Cameroon Borders to the Atlantic Ocean.
It’s sad to note that despite all these huge resources, the country is not yet there when it comes to attracting tourists, especially leveraging on the water resources. Sadly, users of waterway transportation face the uncertainty of safe departure and arrival every day. This is the most glaring demonstration of the failure of NIWA to deliver on its mandate.
In 2021 shortly after the COVID-19 Pandemic, the World Travel and Tourism Council stated that the tourism industry in Nigeria lost 770,000 jobs as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect across the country. And the country since then has made little or no effort towards making up these lost opportunities.
The report also has it that about 1,429 Nigerians have died as a result of various boat mishaps in the last four years.
Findings showed that northern Nigeria had the lowest water levels but the highest number of casualties, with experts attributing the incidents to poor craft maintenance, night voyages, and archaic craft. Such boat accidents often leave a trail of woes in their wake.
In 2024 alone, our inquiry showed that Lagos experienced 21 casualties, while in a few months and weeks; Adamawa had 28 casualties, Niger 30, Kwara 100, Niger 169, Delta 5, Zamfara 40, and Kano 3.
Boat accidents in one year
The PUNCH’s findings have shown that in the last eight months, the country recorded 116 deaths on the inland waterways.
According to data by the Marine Crafts Builders Association of Nigeria released early this year, Nigeria recorded 3,130 incidents of boat mishaps on its waters in the last 10 years.
Also, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Nigeria Investigative Committee on boat accidents on Nigeria’s coastal and inland waterways revealed that over 300 lives were lost to different boat accidents across the country in 2023.
Our correspondent gathered that on October 2, 2023 a boat carrying 34 passengers capsized in the Yauri axis of the River Niger, near the Agwara Local Government Council of Niger State. The boat was en route to Yauri Market when the tragedy occurred just a few meters from its destination. Four bodies were recovered from the river, while several others were declared missing. The bodies were never seen.
On October 7, 2023, a boat carrying majorly women and children after flooding in Ogbaru Local Government Council of Anambra State, capsized, killing 76 passengers.
According to survivors, the boat driver lost control after sailing into heavy waves, causing the vessel to collide with a bridge support.
The number of lives lost in this accident left the nation in shock, with many questioning the effectiveness of NIWA’s safety oversight.
On October 26, 2023, two bodies were recovered after a boat crossing from Olorunsogo to the Isawo area of Lagos capsized. Four passengers were rescued alive.
Just two days later, there was another boat mishap in the Karim Lamido area of Taraba State, which claimed the lives of more than 20 people.
These tragic incidents once again highlighted the dangers of travelling on Nigeria’s poorly regulated waterways.
Also on November 6, 2023, four residents of Nasarawa State drowned when a boat carrying rice farmers capsized in Awe LGA. The passengers were returning from their farms when the accident occurred, and despite efforts by local divers to save them, their bodies were recovered hours later.
It was only six days before another tragedy struck, as eight people died in a boat mishap in the Ibi LGA of Taraba State. The cause of the accident was linked to engine failure and rough waters.
While Nigerians were trying to recover from the Ibi incident, on December 11, another boat accident occurred in Gamadio LGA of Adamawa State, where two people went missing, while three others were rescued.
The search for the missing persons continued for days, but their bodies were never recovered.
It took just 10 days into 2024 before the country was greeted with another boat mishap. On January 10, 2024, 11 people, including children, lost their lives in a boat mishap along the Andoni-Bonny coastal waters in Rivers State.
The accident involved two passenger boats plying the route, and it was later revealed that neither of the boats was equipped with life jackets for passengers.
February 2024 witnessed a series of accidents that once again underscored the lack of safety measures on Nigeria’s waterways.
On February 21, an Ibeshe-bound ferry collided with a submerged concrete structure near the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge in Lagos, leaving one person dead.
Less than a week later, on February 26, a 20-passenger boat capsized in the Ibeshe/Ikorodu area, killing three passengers.
Despite the intervention of local boat operators and rescue teams, the accident reignited concerns about the poor regulation of boat operations in Lagos State.
In April, a boat carrying a Nollywood film crew capsized in Anambra State, resulting in multiple casualties.
Among the victims was Junior Pope Odonwodo, a popular actor.
The bodies of three more crew members were recovered days later, further fuelling public outrage and improving regulation of the country’s waterways.
As Nigerians prepared to celebrate the 64th Independence anniversary, the sleepy Gbajibo community in Mokwa Local Government Area, Niger State, was plunged into mourning.
A wooden boat conveying over 300 people, mainly women and children, from Mundi Local Government Area in Kwara State to Mokwa LGA, for the Malud celebration, capsized.
Government’s intervention
Take it or leave it, the government through NIWA has been making frantic efforts towards addressing these challenges starting from the previous administration to date.
Before now, there have been engagements by previous heads of this agency to engage the boat operators, passengers, and other stakeholders on how to ensure safe navigation on waterways even though these efforts might have yielded little or no result.
Bola Oyebamiji’s appointment as the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority on October 25, 2023, succeeding Dr George Muoghalu, was a long-awaited change by many maritime stakeholders.
However, over a year later, stakeholders believe that the inland waterways had not improved due to the level of insecurity and boat mishaps that had occurred on the nation’s waterways. Many stakeholders attributed those accidents to overloading, poorly maintained crafts, engine failures, and a lack of safety equipment. On the strength of those recurring tragedies, boat users had accused the NIWA leadership of inaction, describing the agency as being asleep.
Meanwhile, the agency on the other hand had taken some steps towards ensuring that these incidents were reduced to the barest minimum through sensitisation and other programmes.
Some arrests were made by the agency in the past, and some have been prosecuted even though the ugly incident kept happening.
However, in a bid to further stop the menace, the agency recently launched a transportation code for waterways users and vowed to punish offenders.
The PUNCH reports that NIWA has commenced a sensitisation and enforcement drive to ensure full compliance with the waterways transportation code in Lagos jetties.
The agency said that the move was aimed at improving safety and regulation on the state’s waterways.
Speaking during a sensitisation exercise in Lagos recently, the Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Sarat Braimah, stated that the agency would ensure that boat captains, operators, and passengers were fully aware of the new safety measures and the strict penalties for non-compliance.
She explained that the code, which had been officially gazetted into law, was designed to address critical safety concerns across Lagos’ waterways.
She emphasised the importance of making all waterway users aware of the new regulations.
According to Braimah, the sensitisation campaign focuses on communicating the major aspects of the code, which include mandatory registration of vessels, the ban on overloading of boats, and the compulsory use of life jackets for all passengers.
The NIWA Lagos boss explained that those provisions, which were previously issued as advisory warnings, were now enforceable by law, warning that enforcement would be strict, with violators facing severe consequences.
“The timing of the enforcement is particularly significant as it coincides with the “ember months”, a period of increased waterway traffic due to seasonal festivities,” Braimah said.
She added that they would be deploying 72 naval personnel to man the jetties to ensure compliance.
The PUNCH reports that the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, announced N100m support for the victims of the boat mishap involving up to 200 people from the Kaiama Local Government Area of the state in October.
The governor announced the support during a visit to the Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Omar Mu’azu Kiyaru IV.
“We have come to again register our condolences over the sad incident. May Allah forgive our compatriots who died in the mishap,” he told the Emir.
The Emir of Kaiama thanked the governor for the donation and his constant support for the people, including efforts to hire teachers from the grassroots.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders, especially boat users across the country, have expressed outrage over the incessant boat mishaps that have claimed many lives in the last year.
The stakeholders cited the lack of life jackets, poor state of the boats, and inadequate safety measures as major contributing factors.
Reacting to the numerous boat accidents on the country’s waters, the immediate past Chairman of the United Waterways Passengers Association, Pius Agbude, told The PUNCH that after winning absolute control of the waterways at the Supreme Court, NIWA had failed to deliver.
“We don’t even know what he is doing yet, even after winning absolute control over waterways through the Supreme Court. NIWA is too docile,” he said.
The Chairman of the United Waterways Passengers Association, Mr Gbenga Oluwadiya, while admitting that boat accidents happen mostly when a boat runs into a wreck, also called in the need for passengers to be properly kitted.
“I think last year ended, and earlier this year, we have had a series of boat mishaps, which I will say is normal because accidents happen everywhere.
“It happens mostly when boats run into wrecks. In all these, if our people are properly kitted, it would have reduced the fatality of the accidents,” he said.
According to Oluwadiya, despite the boat mishaps, waterway transportation was safer than the road.
“I still consider the waterways safer than the roads. What we are doing is sensitising our members on the need to wear their life jackets properly. You know some people will hang out on their neck, and when something happens, the jacket will be off their body. “So, what we are doing is sensitising them, the government is doing its own, and the regulators are doing their own. And as passengers, we are always encouraging them to do the right thing. Another thing is the phobia of water,” he explained.
He advised passengers to wear their life jackets properly and jump into the water when a boat is distressed.
“When a boat is distressed, the best place for you to be is on the water; fasten your life jacket, and jump into the water. But some people, because of the water phobia, will remain in the boat, and the pressure of the water will take them and the boat down the bottom of the lagoon,” Oluwadiya noted.
He believed that government agencies could do better in securing lives and properties on the waterways.
“You know there is always room for improvement, and then in every government organisation, they have their challenges. Funding is one and training is another one. And the equipment they will require is another.
“So, we can’t judge NIWA; we can only judge people by the amount of resources they have in their hands. So, they may probably be constrained. You can’t judge them by the fact that they are there; what if they don’t have resources?
“I believe NIWA can do better. The question is, do they have all the support to work well? I don’t want to say they have failed but I believe they can do better,” he stated.
Stakeholders have also lamented the rising insecurity on Nigeria’s waterways.
The PUNCH reports that on September 2, 10 maritime workers were abducted by suspected kidnappers in Bonny River Waters, sparking widespread fear among the workers’ union and their families.
The Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, River Commercial District, Mr Isreal Pepple, told The PUNCH recently that the abducted workers had been released.
“Yes, they were released; 10 of them have been released. On the issue of ransom, that is the one I don’t know if they were rescued. It would have been in the papers, and if they were not rescued, you should know,” Pepple confirmed.
On his part, the President of the Nigeria Association of Masters Mariners, Capt. Tajudeen Alao, in a recent interview, acknowledged that NIWA was tasked with managing navigable rivers in no fewer than 28 states, which placed enormous responsibilities on its leadership.
“Marine transportation is different from land transportation, and the geographical coverage is wider. Many communities are located in remote areas, and reaching them is often challenging, but this doesn’t excuse the high number of deaths we have seen,” Alao said.
He noted that NIWA had fared well in some areas, but emphasised that there was significant room for improvement.
He suggested that NIWA could enhance its operations through regular safety awareness campaigns and closer collaboration with local governments, community leaders, and safety volunteers at loading bays.
Also as a way of addressing these challenges on the nation’s inland waterways, stakeholders have called for greater government participation through investment in modern craft and infrastructure.
These experts attributed overcrowding, late-night voyages, archaic craft, and poor craft maintenance as the most common factors responsible for boat accidents on Nigerian waterways.
The National President of the Waterfront Boat Owners and Transporters Association of Nigeria, Comrade Tope Fajemirokun, has urged the government in the northern part of the country to invest in Inland Waterways in their respective states.
Fajemirokun also charged operators on the Northern axis to be open to new ideas about modern ways of running the inland waterways sector of the economy.
He implied that the craft used by the operators is archaic, urging investment and the need for the government to launch sensitisation workshops and campaigns for operators in the region.
“There should be better awareness, just like in Lagos, because I believe there is no better awareness. Also, operators should adapt to new developments, such as in Lagos. Operators there are trapped in their old ways. They should adopt new initiatives and be ready for new ideas.
“Also, the government needs to do a lot, such as media campaigns; the state government must take up the responsibility of building jetties and acquiring modern craft, which shouldn’t be left in the hands of operators alone. The financial capacity is dwarfing the operators. Therefore, the government should come to their rescue,” he stated.
Also, a boat operator who simply gave his name as Mr. Johnpaul Ikenna, said the high cost of running water transportation in the country is responsible for the ongoing mishaps recorded on its inland waterways.
The operator said significant challenges bedeviling the sector are infrastructure, compounded by fuel pricing, purchasing outboard engines in foreign currencies, and high maintenance costs, which make boat operators cut corners.
According to him, the quality of waterways and environmental factors, security, integrating heritage boating, dredging ecosystems critical to connecting rivers, lakes, and inlets, and land use, which affects the development of waterfront lodges for tourism and the emergence of carefully intended maritime cities and towns, are also responsible for boat mishaps.
“The challenges are enormous, so is the potential. Infrastructure is one; two is the boating and ferry business economy compounded by fuel pricing. The purchase of outboard engines in foreign currency, maintenance, quality of waterways, environmental factors, security, integrating heritage boating, dredging ecosystems critical to connecting rivers, lakes, and inlets, land use act regarding the development of waterfront lodges for tourism, and the emergence of carefully intended maritime cities and towns.
“Others are poor research on inland waterways and the impact of the littoral community’s development and growth, absence of a critical inland waterways master plan, and absence of serious and focal awareness and education,” he stated.
