Thousands die in boat accidents while authorities sleep

Nigeria’s inland waterwayslike many of its roads, have become death traps. This is a tragic phenomenon that costs the lives of the poor who travel the most by boat. The frequency of these disasters seems to suggest the sleepiness or incompetence of public officials charged with the responsibility of ensuring safety on these roads.

Boating accidents in at least 10 states reveal a staggering number of preventable deaths across the country. The government’s focus should shift from irrelevant official statements by the president or a governor sympathetic to the victims’ families, whenever this occurs, to taking proactive measures against these disasters.

The latest tragedy was the collision of two boats in Lagos last Monday. Around 21 people are feared dead following the incident. Each of the boats was carrying 16 passengers when they capsized in the middle of the lagoon in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of ​​the state at night.

This unfortunate trip should not have taken place if the relevant federal and state agencies had been aware of their responsibilities. It is illegal for any vessel to operate outside the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. time window, according to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) regulations, published in the Federal Department of Justice Gazette.

Before the Lagos accident, an avalanche of parallel tragedies had occurred. On October 3, a boat carrying 300 passengers sank with women and children returning from a festival in Mudi, Mokwa Local Government Area of ​​Niger State. Only 160 people were rescued, 60 were reported dead and 108 others were reported missing. In Zamfara State, 40 people died in similar circumstances in September in the Bakin Kasuwa River in Gumm local government. In August, a boat exploded in Bayelsa State, killing 20 passengers in Ezetu 1, South Ijaw.

Had it not been for Providence, all 250 passengers of a boat accident that occurred on Buguma waterways in Asari-Toru LGA of Rivers State, carrying goods to market in April, would have perished. THE Nigerian Navy NNS Pathfinder intervened in time to rescue them. The boat was a locally made three-deck vessel, which the navy said was overturned, with no safety equipment on board and none of its passengers wearing life jackets. We can bet that these boats involved in serial accidents have not been subject to any inspection or operating approval.

NIWA has regulations for boat and jetty operations in the country to ensure the safety of passengers and cargo. But they are not respected. These rules include: opening hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; zero tolerance for overloading and using rickety boats; mandatory use of life jackets by passengers; distribution of safety advice to passengers before departure; and the use of handle paddles in the event of engine failure. This set of guidelines is not only for boat operators, but also for pier owners.

As the rules are respected, harvests of death become inevitable. In 2022, NIWA announced that it would begin enforcing the Ministry of Justice’s gazette rules, for which any violator would face a seven-year prison sentence. The regulations, which are not enforced, are as meaningless as they are non-existent.

In addition to overloading, many boats have capsized as a result of hitting rocks and wrecks along shipping routes because our water channels are not dredged properly or at all. The country’s more than 10,000 kilometers of inland waterways, including rivers, lagoons, streams and intra-coastal waters, therefore require meticulous official monitoring.

Therefore, the NIWA authorities should be held responsible for such loss of lives along with the state transport ministries as they are expected to form synergies to ensure safety of lives of people using this mode of transport .

An April survey of boat accidents, conducted by Premium Times, in partnership with Pluboard, between 2019 and 2023, revealed a frightening toll of at least 1,072 deaths from 71 accidents. A total of 106 people have died in Kwara State as of June 2023; Taraba also recorded 100 deaths in October of the same year; while Kebbi State recorded 98 similar deaths in 2021. Anambra, Kano, Sokoto, Cross Rivers and Niger States are other places where safety concerns in river transport are common.

During the 2024 safety awareness campaign for operators of Nigerian waterways, NIWA Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, identified ignorance, negligence and failure to follow due procedures as reasons for these incidents . This is true, but it does not exonerate his agency from the lax oversight that culminates in these disasters. Now is the time to enforce the regulations. Rules should not be made and left to a group of operators, already known to be ignorant and without regard for public safety, to implement.

In our opinion, official negligence and dereliction of duty on matters that concern the safety of lives is criminal. This should no longer be tolerated. In the UK, for example, a Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) certificate is obtained before an operator can register or obtain a license to use inland waterways such as rivers and canals. And all BSS certified boats are tested every four years. The maximum speed on the narrow canals is four miles per hour.

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At all times, those in authority must be aware of the sanctity of life. Accordingly, this money should not be wasted in the same way that boat accidents kill Nigerians. We cannot reinvent the wheel in any form in the role of government in protecting lives and property. Other transport regulators, such as those in charge of roads and aviation, are still on the ground enforcing the rules. This is why Nigeria Road Safety Corps commissioners and vehicle inspection officers are always on our roads.

In this context, NIWA, state governments and local council officials should establish their physical presence at the jetties from where boats take off to enforce safety protocols. We advocate for a government-maintained registry at the piers in each area where these canoes depart, so that government officials can keep tabs on the journeys being undertaken, in accordance with established rules. This will help stop the blatant abuse, which many families have cried over.

Many victims of these boat accidents are farmers and traders, who bring their food shipments and goods to urban markets. These are essential economic activities as the country reels from growing food shortages and food inflation. The national economy will be the biggest loser if this tragic trend is not reversed.

While the lives of the rich who fly through the skies on airplanes are protected by strict regulations in the aviation sector, although little attention is paid to the roads, which they also use regularly, the lives residents of neighboring communities deserve the same fate. same level of protection. NIWA and subnational transport safety authorities should therefore justify their existence by bringing common sense to the movement of people and goods along our inland waterways.