Transportation through Nigerian inland waterways has recorded many tragic accidents. From Sokoto to Bayelsa, Lagos to Rivers, the tragedies have been recurrent.
Accidents are often inevitable but governments at local, state and federal levels have the responsibility of making sure measures are taken to prevent or minimise such accidents, especially when the causes are not due to natural occurrences that are beyond man’s control.
The recent loss of more than 50 lives in Gorau area of Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State comes as one accident too many. This tragedy is reportedly the eighth boat accident since 2020, with almost 100 lives lost in what many see as rough official estimates from locals who often lack correct data of victims.
Again many victims are often hurriedly buried according to Islamic rites, thereby giving little room for autopsy or official documentation.
There are known causes of most of the recorded boat mishaps across the country. There have been reported cases of poorly maintained old boats and canoes, overloading, lack of life jackets and poorly supervised operators. These lapses in the operation of water transportation in Nigeria are all human errors. Across the world, water transportation has become a very lucrative business and technology makes it even easier.
We are curious about the effective roles of the ministries of transportation, marine/blue economy, water resources and agriculture. All these ministries ought to play direct complimentary roles that can maximise the use of Nigerian inland waterways.
Many of the recent victims of the Sokoto boat mishap were women and children going to farms. The infrastructure for water transportation are as inadequate as they are archaic.
There is no reason state governments across the country cannot invest in water and road transportation in a 21st century world.
We are surprised that a number of states are investing in local airports and airlines without investing in the inland waterways transportation that inarguably serves more of the informal sector that contributes a huge percentage of the country’s GDP. Some of the airports in most states cost billions, are elite-focused and are often economically unviable.
We wonder the research and economic projections that often informed such elephant projects.
Transportation has become a huge problem in Nigeria because of the huge amounts required for functional road networks. We therefore feel that this latest tragedy in Sokoto should be a wake-up call for all tiers of government, especially states with prospects for viable water transportation, to take that sector more seriously. The constant loss of lives on our waterways is a huge socio-economic loss to the nation.
The number of boat mishaps across the country ought to have had consequences. Even the Sokoto incident seems very disappointing as there are no definite official details about either the victims or the causative factors.
We wonder why in all the past accidents, there have been no reports of investigations that can lead to the arrest and prosecution of those whose actions or inactions might have caused those accidents.
In spite of the efforts of a state like Lagos, we still have incidents of loss of lives due to boats capsizing, especially in the riverine areas whose only means of transportation into the city is through water transportation.
The loss of any life should bother both individuals and governments. There have been cases where individuals who board the boats deliberately disobey safety measures, thereby endangering not just their lives but the lives of others, especially vulnerable children whose survival depends on the carefulness and guidance of adults.
More than six decades after independence, institutions in the country must be made highly functional, given the value of human capital to development. Ministries and agencies at all levels must be held to account for certain acts of negligence. Ironically, many of the leaders of these ministries and agencies travel to other countries, including fellow African countries, and experience functional infrastructure. The fact that the number of the Sokoto victims is merely speculative is a loud statement about data management in the country.
That the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) can’t even account for the victims shows there is poor information/communication management at that level. Nigeria must reconsider its attitude to statistics and numbers. National planning cannot make sense if the population is not known and data are either unavailable or non-existent.
Rescue infrastructure must be made more available to an area such as the water transportation sector to save lives. Every life must be accounted for at all times. Negligence at all levels must be punished as a deterrent to others.