News
Ways to Ensure Waterways Safety in Nigeria Inland Waterways
- A PAPER PRESENTED BY CHIEF RAYMOND GOLD, CO-FOUNDER AND CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE WATERWAYS AWARENESS, ADVANCEMENT AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION IN A STAKEHOLDERS FORUM HELD AT APAPA ON MONDAY THE 10TH OF MARCH 2025, TO SUGGEST IDEAS FOR THE SPECIAL MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON BOAT MISHAPS IN NIGERIA, SET UP BY THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF MARINE AND BLUE ECONOMY, ABUJA.
INTRODUCTION:
In recent times, there has been an increase in the volumes of persons and goods being moved by water across our country Nigeria. One reason behind this increase is the pitiable state of some of our roads. Bad roads increase travel time.
To save time, citizens are gradually embracing water transport as an alternative for both interstates and intrastate travels. Again, within some states, many communities (waterfront communities) are accessible only by water. In such situations the citizens have no other options of travel other than through water.
This increase in water transport patronage, has come with its own challenges including safety challenges. Water transport comes with its own value chain. It include transport, leisure, (tourism) and Fishing (agriculture). Thus any attention paid to fix the challenges of our country’s waterways (including safety challenges), would have a ripple effect on its entire value chain.
The challenges of our waterways include safety, security, poor infrastructure, environmental challenges and more. All these challenges are intertwined and a holistic approach is the best in tackling them.
LOSS OF LIVES AND PROPERTY THROUGH BOAT MISHAPS:
A report published by the Leadership Newspaper sometime in November 2024, put the number of deaths as a result of various boat mishaps on our inland waterways between the year 2000 and 2024, at 1,428. The report also revealed that although, the northern part of our country has low water levels, it recorded the highest volume of casualties.
In the last quarter of 2024, over 200 lives were lost in boat mishaps on the waterways of Kwara and Niger States alone.
As a result of this, SWAAADO worked with WABOTAN, an association of boat owners and drivers, to look into the causes of the boat mishaps. Causative factors as revealed in this collaborative work, include, use of sub-standard boats to travel, poor boat maintenance, night sailing, none use of safety vests (life jackets) and the lack of safety awareness by the the drivers.
For example, findings reveal that out of over 200 passengers involved in the boat mishap that happened on the night of October 1, 2024 in Gbajibo Community, Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, over half of the passengers were without life jackets. That boat mishap claimed over a hundred lives.
CAUSES OF BOAT MISHAPS ON OUR INLAND WATERWAYS:
Causes of boat mishaps can be grouped into three, namely: Natural factors, Human factors and
Technical factors.
1. Natural Factors:
These include, strong waves and currents, wrecks and other stumps
on the causeway, piles of sand and silt building up mainly due to indiscriminate
dredging along the waterways that could grind a boat to a sudden halt and cause an
accident, Very bad weather that could affect visibility, and many others. In some
environments, big animals that live in water ( such as crocodiles, alligators, whales,
sharks, hippopotamus, etc, ) could also cause an accident
2. Human Factors:
Human factors includes overloading, night sailing without the necessary navigational equipment on the boats, reckless driving by the boat drivers, nonuse of life jackets or wrong use of same, lack of training and subsequently lack of safety awareness on the part of the captains and the crew, driving with faulty engines, etc. for example, in the accident that happened sometime in August 2024 in Bayelsa state, the engine was running out of fuel and the driver tried to put fuel into the engine without putting off the engine first.
This recklessness on the part of the driver led to a fire outbreak and an explosion that resulted in very severe injuries and loss of lives. Some training in basic safety on the part of the boat driver would have stopped such recklessness.
3. Technical Factors: Technical factors include substandard boats and engines, sudden
failure of engines midway into the journey, inadequate or outright nonexistence of
navigational aids, etc
SUGGESTED WAYS TO REDUCE BOAT MISHAPS ON OUR WATERWAYS:
We suggest the following ways to reduce the incidence of boat mishaps on our waterways.
1. Training and retraining including public sensitization amongst operators and other
stakeholders to build capacity towards safety: Training and retraining of drivers and
their deckhands on basic knowledge of waterways safety such as the type that
SWAAADO does regularly in Lagos in collaboration with WABOTAN, an association of
stakeholders in the water transport sectors.
The curriculum for this training include…rules of the road, basic firefighting techniques, basic first aid procedures such as administering CPR, how to embark and disembark, how to adorn the life jackets properly, etc. SWAAADO in collaboration with WABOTAN, has done this training
consistently in the past seven years.
Many of the operators in the water transport sector (especially out inland waterways) are very informal persons who couldn’t have gone to our maritime academy. This kind of training and workshops would equipped them with the basic knowledge they need to ensure safety in the cause of plying their trade and thus reduce boat mishaps on our waterways.
It also sensitizes the public to appreciate and embrace the use of safety vests such as the life jacket.
2. Regulations and Enforcement:
The regulatory agencies, NIMASA for our coastal waterways and NIWA for our inland waterways should be strengthened to enable them enforce safety regulations on our waterways. Boat drivers should be licensed according to the capacity of the boats they drive….. PDSC certification from NIMASA and the National Boat Drivers’ License from NIWA. Every boat on our waterways should be registered and licensed just as it happens with vehicles on our roads.
Agencies should also sit up to fine/punish offenders to serve as deterrent to others. Such efforts towards regulation and enforcement should be carried out in an inclusive manner involving stakeholders. Both the agencies and stakeholders can co-create a safety culture for our waterways that would in turn reduce boat mishaps and reduce the loss of lives and property that come with such accidents.
3. Government investment in Water Transport Infrastructures and Safety Vests:
The water transport sector is a very huge part of our country’s economy. It is part of a
value chain that boost tourism,(Nautical/Water Tourism) and Agriculture (fishing).
Any investment in this sector is worth it. Governments, both at the federal and state
levels, should invest in this sector through the provision of standard boats for
commercial use, providing standard jetties, etc. Standard life jackets are not cheap.
Some citizens may not be able to afford personal life jackets. Both states and the
federal government should make life jackets available at the jetties where citizens
board boats to travel.
4. MDAs to complement NIWA’s Efforts on our Inland Waterways: State government
should also set up agencies or departments within their various transport ministries
to work with NIWA to ensure safety on the waterways within their states. The job of
ensuring safety on our waterways is enormous and shouldn’t be left to NIWA alone.
Thank you.
Chief Raymond Gold
Tel: 09032140048
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director, SWAAADO
MARAN President Onigbinde Wins Maritime Reporter of the Year at Transport Day Awards
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News
Oluyinka Onigbinde, President of the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN), has been named Maritime Reporter of the Year at the 12th Nigerian Transport Lecture and Awards organised by Transport Day Media — a recognition that underscores the growing visibility of dedicated maritime journalism within Nigeria’s broader transport discourse.
The award was presented before an assembly of senior stakeholders from Nigeria’s transport, ports, and blue economy sectors, with organisers citing Onigbinde’s consistency in industry reporting, his in-depth policy coverage, and his sustained commitment to advancing informed public conversation on Nigeria’s maritime development.
This year’s lecture, themed “Intermodal Transportation Safety in Nigeria: Prospects, Challenges and Contributions to National Growth,” drew policymakers, regulators, transport operators, and media professionals. Former Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi delivered the keynote, focusing on safety improvements across all modes of transport in Nigeria.
Onigbinde, who also serves as Assistant Editor of Shipping Position Daily, has built a reputation over the years for rigorous coverage of Nigeria’s ports, shipping operations, customs administration, freight forwarding, and blue economy policy. His work has included investigative reports, exclusive interviews, and analysis of port reform and trade facilitation issues that directly shape the operating environment for maritime industry practitioners.
His emergence as MARAN President adds a leadership dimension to his journalism profile. In that role, he has pledged to strengthen the association’s engagement with industry stakeholders and uphold the standards of credible maritime reporting in Nigeria.
Receiving the award, Onigbinde dedicated the recognition to colleagues, mentors, MARAN members, and the wider industry community that has supported his career. He described the honour as both humbling and a renewed obligation to pursue factual, balanced, and impactful reporting — one that contributes meaningfully to the growth of Nigeria’s maritime and transport sectors.
The Transport Day Media Awards are widely regarded as one of the sector’s key platforms for acknowledging individuals and organisations whose work has advanced Nigeria’s transport ecosystem through policy advocacy, operational excellence, and media coverage.
Nigeria Watch
The recognition of a maritime journalist at a national transport forum carries significance beyond the individual being honoured. It reflects a growing acknowledgement within Nigeria’s policy and industry circles that quality maritime journalism is not peripheral to sector development — it is part of the infrastructure of accountability.
Nigeria’s maritime sector operates in an environment where regulatory opacity, concession disputes, cabotage compliance gaps, and port efficiency challenges remain persistent concerns for operators. The quality of journalism covering these issues directly affects how well-informed stakeholders, investors, and policymakers are when making decisions that shape the blue economy.
MARAN, under new leadership, has an opportunity to push for stronger press accreditation standards at key maritime regulatory bodies — including NIMASA and the NPA — greater information flow from government agencies to the maritime press, and structured platforms for engagement between reporters and technical experts in shipping, logistics, and port operations.
Nigerian maritime journalism, when at its best, performs a watchdog function that complements the work of regulators. Recognising its practitioners at the highest levels of the transport sector is a step in the right direction.
Lagos Deputy Speaker Throws Weight Behind 8th WISTA Africa Conference
By Samson Onoharigho | Waterways News
The Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, has pledged her support for the 8th WISTA Africa Regional Conference and confirmed she will personally attend the continental maritime event, billed to take place in Lagos later this month.
Meranda gave the commitment when she received a delegation of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria, led by its President, Dr. Odunayo Ani, during a courtesy visit to her office. The visit formed part of WISTA Nigeria’s pre-conference stakeholder outreach, targeting key institutional and legislative voices ahead of the gathering expected to draw policymakers, maritime regulators, industry operators, development partners, academics and professionals from across Africa.
Ani formally invited the Deputy Speaker and women across Lagos State to participate in the conference, scheduled for June 25 and 26, 2026, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. She said the event, themed “From Policy to Implementation: Women Advancing Africa’s Blue Economy through Sustainable Shipping, Trade and Energy Innovation,” would focus on translating high-level policy commitments into concrete, sector-wide action.
The WISTA Nigeria president underscored Lagos’s pivotal role in Africa’s maritime economy, arguing that the visible participation of women leaders from the state would lend significant weight to ongoing advocacy for broader female representation in maritime decision-making, innovation, and economic governance.
A group photograph of WISTA Nigeria delegation with the Lagos Deputy Speaker, during a courtesy visit last week
“The support and participation of women leaders in Lagos State will enrich discussions and help advance the drive for greater female representation and inclusion across Africa’s maritime and blue economy sectors,” Ani said.
She also called on the Lagos State House of Assembly to mobilise women across the state for the conference, describing it as a rare platform for shaping a more inclusive and equitable future for Africa’s blue economy.
Responding warmly, Meranda commended WISTA Nigeria’s consistent contributions to championing women in the maritime industry and reaffirmed her longstanding relationship with the association. She confirmed her attendance and pledged active support for initiatives geared toward widening women’s participation across the blue economy value chain.
Nigeria Watch
The 8th WISTA Africa Regional Conference arrives at a moment of heightened policy activity in Nigeria’s maritime sector — from ongoing cabotage reform conversations and the CVFF disbursement saga to the broader push to position Nigeria as the hub of Africa’s blue economy. That WISTA Nigeria chose Lagos as the host city is no accident: with the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, the emerging Lekki Deep Seaport complex, and the administrative machinery of NIMASA and the NPA all concentrated in the commercial capital, Lagos remains the operational heartbeat of Nigeria’s shipping industry.
What stands out about this edition is the deliberate legislative buy-in. Securing the endorsement of the Lagos Deputy Speaker is not merely symbolic — it signals an attempt to build bridges between the maritime industry and the lawmaking architecture that ultimately shapes port governance, cabotage enforcement, and blue economy investment policy. For an industry that has long complained of regulatory fragmentation and legislative indifference, that kind of outreach matters.
The conference theme — moving from policy to implementation — also resonates sharply in the Nigerian context. Nigeria has no shortage of blue economy frameworks, maritime masterplans, and gender inclusion commitments on paper. The harder challenge, as industry stakeholders consistently note, is converting those documents into enforceable regulation, funded programmes, and genuine career pathways — particularly for women, who remain significantly underrepresented at the senior levels of Nigerian shipping, port management, and maritime trade.
Port operators, shipowners, freight forwarders and terminal managers attending the June 25–26 conference would do well to engage the implementation-focused sessions closely. The conversations there are likely to feed back into the policy pipeline affecting their operations.
Waterways News | Maritime & Blue Economy Reporting
Nigeria Projects Blue Economy Vision at Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Correspondent
Nigeria has stepped onto the global stage to assert its maritime ambitions, with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, representing President Bola Tinubu at the Our Ocean Conference currently holding in Mombasa, Kenya.
The three-day summit, running from June 16 to 18, convenes heads of state, ministers, investors, environmental advocates, policymakers and civil society leaders to advance concrete solutions for protecting the world’s oceans while unlocking their economic potential. Since its founding in 2014, the conference has built a reputation as one of the world’s most outcome-driven environmental forums, with a strong record of converting pledges into verifiable action.
This year’s edition places Africa’s blue economy at the centre of deliberations, acknowledging its role in sustaining more than 50 million livelihoods across the continent’s 38 coastal nations. Key discussions are focused on persistent threats to marine ecosystems — illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, plastic pollution, rising ocean temperatures and the urgent need for expanded marine protected areas.
Nigeria is expected to use the platform to articulate its position as West Africa’s foremost maritime nation, drawing attention to ongoing efforts to develop its blue economy framework, reinforce maritime security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea, and improve ocean health across its coastline and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The delegation is also expected to advance engagement with international partners on mechanisms to scale up sustainable ocean-based industries and deepen regional cooperation frameworks.
The conference programme extends beyond diplomatic exchanges to include investment forums, a BlueTech exhibition, youth leadership tracks and specialised policy clinics designed to drive innovation in climate adaptation and sustainable ocean governance. Organisers expect the gathering to catalyse fresh inflows of public and private capital into marine conservation and sustainable fisheries management.
Nigeria Watch
Nigeria’s participation in the Our Ocean Conference comes at a moment when the country’s blue economy agenda is still more aspiration than architecture. While the Tinubu administration has spoken broadly of harnessing Nigeria’s vast ocean resources — from fisheries and aquaculture to offshore energy and maritime tourism — the policy frameworks and funding mechanisms needed to convert that vision into commercial reality remain largely underdeveloped.
For Nigeria’s port operators, terminal managers and shipping stakeholders, the Mombasa summit carries practical significance beyond the diplomatic optics. International ocean governance commitments increasingly intersect with commercial maritime operations: stricter IUU fishing enforcement, expanded marine protected zones and emerging blue carbon markets all have direct implications for how shipping lanes, offshore logistics corridors and coastal port infrastructure are managed.
Equally notable is the investment dimension. The Our Ocean Conference has historically generated significant financing pledges for ocean-related projects. Nigeria’s ability to attract a share of that capital — particularly for port decarbonisation, offshore wind development and blue infrastructure along the Lagos-Calabar coastal corridor — will depend on whether Abuja can present bankable project pipelines backed by credible regulatory frameworks, rather than broad thematic declarations.
NIMASA’s ongoing efforts to modernise Nigeria’s maritime regulatory environment and the NPA’s port expansion programme are relevant foundations, but without coordinated blue economy legislation and dedicated funding mechanisms, Nigeria risks being a spectator at forums that are reshaping the global maritime investment landscape.
The question Mombasa should sharpen for Nigerian policymakers is straightforward: will the country leave with commitments, or with capital?
Waterways News — Covering Nigeria’s Maritime and Blue Economy Sector
Oil and Gas3 months agoTantita’s Pipeline Deal: $144m Contract, Rising Output, and the Questions that Deserve Answers
- MARITIME TRADE & SHIPPING3 months ago
World’s Largest Container Ship Sets New Maritime Record with 22,233 TEUs on Single Voyage
- Blue Economy4 months ago
Nigeria’s Coast Guard Bill: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
