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The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has inaugurated the Diving Governing Board, headed by Kamil Shoretire, the Permanent Secretary, following concerns over safety and a regulatory gap in the sector.

BusinessDay gathered that the move will help to strengthen the enforcement of safety regulations and protect workers engaged in commercial diving operations across Nigeria.

Annah Daniel, Head of Press and Public Relations of the Ministry, in a statement on Saturday, said the move will ensure effective implementation of the Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018, and address safety risks associated with offshore, inshore and inland water diving operations.

Maigari Dingyadi, the Minister of Labour and Employment, described the inauguration as a significant step towards strengthening the regulation of commercial diving and eliminating longstanding safety gaps in the sector.

He said the expansion of Nigeria’s maritime activities, oil and gas exploration, port development and underwater engineering had made the safety and welfare of commercial divers a national priority.

‘As Nigeria’s blue economy expands rapidly through maritime investments, oil and gas exploration, port developments, and underwater engineering, the safety and welfare of our commercial divers have transitioned from being a peripheral concern to a top national priority,’ the Honourable Minister said.

Dingyadi, who described commercial diving as one of the most hazardous industrial occupations, added that ‘the sector had faced regulatory gaps, inadequate standardisation and unacceptable risks to human life over the years.’

He said the inauguration of the Board was intended to bridge the gap between the existence of safety regulations and their effective implementation.

‘However, a legal framework is only as effective as the institution driving its implementation,’ he said.

The Minister charged members of the Board to ensure strict compliance with the Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018, stressing that diving projects must not commence without the required medical fitness certification, approved operational plans and competent personnel.

He also tasked the Board with working with recognised training institutions, including the Nigerian Navy Diving School and accredited civilian centres, to establish transparent certification pathways for commercial divers and address reliance on unverified foreign credentials.

Dingyadi further urged the Board to establish a transparent register of approved diving contractors, supervisors, instructors and medical examiners to eliminate unqualified operators and improve accountability in the industry.

He reminded the board members that their responsibility extended beyond regulatory compliance to protecting the lives of Nigerian workers engaged in hazardous underwater operations.

‘You carry the heavy responsibility of ensuring that every diver goes to work and returns home safely to their families,’ he said.

The Minister assured the Board of the Ministry’s administrative and logistical support, urging its members to establish clear operational guidelines and ensure strict enforcement of safety standards.

‘We expect you to hit the ground running, institute transparent operating guidelines, and restore absolute discipline and safety to the nation’s commercial diving sector,’ he added.

Earlier, Kamil A. Shoretire, the Permanent Secretary, described the inauguration as a critical step towards the effective implementation and enforcement of the Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018.

He explained that the regulations were developed as subsidiary legislation under the Factories Act, Cap F1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to address emerging workplace safety challenges and strengthen protection for workers in high-risk environments.

Shoretire said the Ministry had continued to discharge its statutory responsibility for occupational safety, health and welfare through the enforcement of the Factories Act and its subsidiary regulations, as well as advocacy, stakeholder engagement and other promotional activities.

He noted that workplace machinery, equipment, materials and operational methods had changed significantly with advances in science and technology, making it necessary for regulations to respond to emerging occupational hazards.

‘It is in realization of the limitations of the Factories Act that would arise over time that provision was made in Section 49 of the Act empowering the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment to issue regulations as the need arises, for securing the safety, health, and welfare of workers in our workplaces,’ he said.

The Permanent Secretary stressed that strict compliance with the diving regulations was essential to preventing accidents, injuries and fatalities associated with hazardous diving operations.

‘The importance of this Diving Governing Board inauguration, therefore, cannot be overemphasized, considering that diving operations are commonly in use in various workplaces in Nigeria, and constitute very hazardous and high-risk operation due to the risks that may be associated with diving in confine spaces,’ he said.

He warned that failure to observe prescribed safety measures could result in occupational illnesses, deaths and extensive damage to plant and equipment.

Shoretire therefore called on stakeholders across the economy to comply strictly with the regulations, noting that effective implementation would help prevent workplace accidents and improve safety standards in the diving sector.

The Diving Governing Board is expected to provide strategic oversight for the implementation of the regulations, promote standardisation of training and certification, and strengthen compliance with safety requirements governing commercial diving operations in Nigeria.

Man has come a long way from the days of Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller who developed a style of travelling to the animal world to draw lessons for men and women. History has a bouquet of his jungle stories and their morals: The ant and the grasshopper (You can shape your tomorrow today); The boy who cried wolf (It’s the lie you’re used to which will be remembered, not the truth you only tell once); The fox and the grapes (One can’t accommodate what’s beyond your reach; you will despise it).

Modern novelists also write to instruct or entertain us, some from forest life, like Nigeria’s Daniel Fagunwa (Ogboju ode ninu igbo irunmole, 1936) and the Englishman George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1945), with others strictly seeking inspiration from the world of human beings as Professor Tunde Ope-Davies has done in his work, Winds Against My Sails.

Ope-Davies dispenses with creatures of the thicket to relate his account; but he also proffers great precepts not virtuously different from those we receive through the writers who commune with the woods. Either way, the readers are enriched, hugely tutored to change perceptions as they reap a harvest of predictable and unexpected twists in the tale.

We have plenty of them in the work of Ope-Davies (Opeibi), a professor in Digital Humanities, Digital Cultures, English and Discourse Studies at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, beginning with a tell-tale autobiographical title for a work of fiction. About the Author back cover section of the book conceals the dark days of the author’s own headwinds. But critics wouldn’t consider it unreasonable to look at Professor Wale Jones in the novel and apply poetic license to unveil him as the alter ego of Opeibi, himself a heavily garlanded don like his creation.

Jones, the main character, leaves rustic Jadesore to embark on what the author calls the Voyage of Life. The name of his village challenges the ambitious to venture out for breakthroughs eluding them. Yet, it doesn’t reveal that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Wale gets the delicacy alright; but it is at the expense of much travail, trauma and toil.

There are near-death experiences; there are fatalities; there are several heartbreaks as well as betrayals; missed opportunities that present no second chances are also recorded; we equally learn of juvenile escapades that could have shortened the life of the hero; there is a battle over the choice of a marriage partner; a time of abandonment by family, friends and loved ones is also shared; we read of days of hunger when biscuits and mint sweets miserably cater for hunger; there’s story of an absentee father; when he’s home however, he fails to model virtue as he engages in nocturnal drinking orgies with friends in the presence of impressionable children; there are assaults of ill health and threats of death at childbirth.

To be sure, some of these are occasioned by poverty. Not all, though. How about the struggles Jones encounter even after the young man has crossed the threshold, in a manner of speaking, and he begins to get local and global recognition denied peers and mentors? The winds against his sail don’t cease in the ivory tower. They are personified by Katakiti, ”who had remained at the same rank for years. To watch Wale, once his student, rise above him was a bitter pill.” There’s also a season of character perfidy when Wale Jones is accused of being ”too friendly with female students” and ”selling a colleague’s textbook to students, a practice the university had outlawed.” Wale attributes all what he’s facing to ”politics of the system.”

Rightly, the blurb concludes that Wale’s faith in God and ”an unyielding spirit of perseverance” are the steps he mounts to overcome the winds of adversity.

So, like Karl Marx, the legendary German co-founder of Scientific Socialism, whose bronze memorial he gazes at in an unnamed European city, Professor Jones becomes ”a man who faced his fires and emerged remade,” ready to change his defective system as Marx attempted to.

Now, in view of an opening poem that predicts ultimate victory for the voyager ”Because He that stillest the noise of the Seas”, is with the explorer, it may be tempting to dismiss Professor Ope-Davies’ Winds Against My Sails as a simplistic literary contraption primed from the beginning for a happy end, regardless of the protagonist’s tumultuous killer adventures. That would be an unbalanced ruling that misses the Olympian plot of Opeibi’s epic. He brings his story under a roof of sweeping flashbacks, critical commentary, history (ancestral and contemporary), objective philosophy, Biblical theology, all of which reveals the author’s catholic mind.

These are carried by a language rich in fluid prose. metaphor and semiotics.

Let’s examine, for instance, Opeibi’s capture of ‘dust’ to take the readers through their own semiotic journeys. as it were. It first appears as ”chalk dust” in Chapter One. Later, he says ”Dust rose like spirits over the playing fields…” And when Wale Jones got the new birth in Christ, we saw the dust called to action again: ”…he bent his knees on the dusty ground and gave his life to Christ.”

Thus, in the literary construct of Professor Ope-Davies’ world, there’s a sustained imagery of the lowly dust and chalk, both of which appear to have sentenced Wale to limitless and hopeless penury. Once, the lecturer is seen collapsing ”at the foot of a chalkboard.” But, to get into Divine embrace wherein is final liberation, Wale must align with ”the dusty ground” and look up to God from that lowly position. He must stoop to conquer.

Is Ope-Davies testing the waters of fiction with Winds Against My Sails after a string of acclaimed nonfiction publications, including the biographical Kumuyi: Defender of the Faith, which he wrote with co-members of the Editorial Board of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry?

This is a heuristic quest with the possibility of turning in a new-look Tunde Ope-Davies.

Details have emerged on how Kula youths died at the bottom of the sea close to the Atlantic Ocean in an encounter with a vessel belonging to the Ibeto group.

Cries rang out in the week that a speed boat carrying 15 Kula youths of Akuku-Toru LGA of Rivers State, a town next to the Ocean, was crushed by a vessel which the youths attempted to stop from sailing out. The vessel known as Anambra FSO was said to be laden with 200,000 barrels of crude oil. The youths had many reasons to block the vessel, but about 10 of them ended up dead.

BusinessDay has been digging into what really happened that fateful Tuesday afternoon in the sea.

Kula community delegation at the Government House in Port Harcourt

Youths and vigilante members guarding the river

The Rivers State government has however stepped into the raucous, vowing to deal ruthlessly with anyone found liable in the deaths.

Gov Sim Fubara said 10 persons were killed and vowed to get to the root of the circumstances.

Gov Fubara gave the assurance on Thursday, October 22, 2026, when the people of Kula Community staged a peaceful march to Government House, Port Harcourt, carrying some of the corpses.

The governor, who was represented by Sunny Ewule, his Chief of Staff, sympathised with the bereaved families and appealed to the people to remain calm and avoid taking the laws into their own hands.

He assured the people of Kula that all those allegedly involved in the act that led to the death of their kinsmen would face the full wrath of the law.

The monstrous vessel

According to the Governor, death is a serious matter, and the Rivers State Government would not rest until it got to the bottom of the matter. ‘We are not going to sit by and allow Rivers indigenes go through this type of unnecessary death.’

Earlier, Anabs Sara-Igbe, a high chief and leader of the Kula Community to the Government House, said they were there to formally complain about the unfortunate incident and seek the government’s intervention.

‘It is proper we inform him (Fubara) because we don’t want to take the laws into our hands. We have the capacity to react but we don’t want to react,’ he said.

Boats and vessel

What Kula community claimed:

The community had raised alarm on Thursday, saying rescue efforts were underway to recover bodies of seven persons drowned at the Robertkiri waterways in Kula following a mishap involving a tugboat and a speedboat carrying over 15 persons.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, 20th October 2026, when a tugboat escorted by military personnel attempted to pull out a 200,000-barrel capacity oil vessel operated by the Ibeto Group after two years of operating in the area.

The victims include Davies Opiri (the Secretary of the Kula CDC) and two members of a local security outfit known as Amama Soldiers whose identity were yet to be known.

Others were named as David Sukubo, Endwell Ameme, Aboy Umeonu and Nye Oriye. They were said to be protesting members of Kula satellite communities and fishing settlements who had vowed to prevent the oil vessel from sailing out of their coastal waters until matters with the company were resolved.

They alleged that the Ibeto Group polluted their waterways, fishing ports and creeks, refused to pay local vendors, and allegedly failed to pay royalties due to the host communities in the course of its operations in the area.

The community said eight persons were rescued alive from the boat mishap. The search and rescue team, which included the DPO of Abonnema Police Division; Sukubu Sara-Igbe Sukubo, the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, chiefs and other indigenes of Kula, searched through creeks and water bodies where the incident occurred, they added.

The statement said they, however, were unable to find the bodies of any of the victims 24 hours after the incident.

One of the survivors, Gibert Pokubo, blamed military personnel attached to the tugboat for the incident.

He alleged that the military acted on the instruction of the Ibeto Group to forcefully pull out the oil vessel from the area and crush any obstable on their way.

One of the leaders of the search and rescue team, Jonah Joshua, expressed hope of recovering the bodies of all the victims.

He said the Ibeto Group and personnel of the Sector 3 Command Okrika of the Nigeria Army involved should be held responsible for what he described as avoidable deaths of the innocent persons.

A relative of one of the victims, Stephen Willbraide, said the wife, children and other family members of the deceased are deeply saddened and devastated by the incident.

He demanded a thorough investigation and justice in the matter.

The search and rescue operation continue today to recover the remains of the 7 victims.

Kula community gather beside the waters to receive corpses

Ibeto reacts, denies responsibility:

Ibeto group, in an unsigned and unauthored statement sent to media houses through an aide Thursday morning said Max Shipping Services Limited, a company in its group, noted with deep concern recent media reports concerning an incident at Kula community, Rivers State, involving its vessel, ANAMBRA BASIN FSO. ‘The reports contain allegations linking the vessel’s recovery operation to an oil spill, the deployment of armed personnel allegedly authorised by Chief Dr. Cletus Ibeto, and a boat capsizing in which several persons are feared to have lost their lives.’

From the statement, it was clear that Ibeto owns Max Shipping, while Max Shipping owns Anambra Basin FSO (vessel) which they hired out to Menal Technical Services Ltd to execute the job in Kula. This may have made the Kula community to see and know no other company than Ibeto.

The statement went on: ‘In view of the seriousness of these allegations, we consider it necessary to clarify the facts concerning our company’s involvement.

‘First, Max Shipping Services Limited is the owner of ANAMBRA BASIN FSO, not the operator of the oilfield or the underlying petroleum operations at Kula community. The vessel was hired to Menal Technical Services Limited under a Marine Equipment Hire Agreement dated 20 September 2024, subsequently amended by an Addendum.

‘Our company’s contractual relationship in respect of the vessel was with Menal Technical Services Limited. We were not a party to the separate operational arrangements that Menal or the end user may have had with the host community.

‘Under the ‘Hire Agreement’, Menal Technical Services Limited assumed specified responsibilities relating to operational exigencies, community settlements, security of the vessel and personnel, and demobilisation.

‘Following prolonged outstanding hire payments and repeated efforts to obtain settlement, Max Shipping Services Limited exercised its contractual right to retrieve its equipment.’

Before the demobilisation effort, the statement added, the crude oil stored in the vessel had been discharged. ‘Tank inspection documents issued by Checkirem and GSV Inspection Services Limited in September 2026 recorded that the inspected tanks were free and clean of crude oil at the time of inspection. These records form part of the documentary evidence being preserved for the relevant authorities.

‘We also made repeated efforts to resolve the situation peacefully. Our representatives met with community leaders and representatives on several occasions to explain the nature of our company’s contractual relationship with Menal Technical Services Limited, clarify that we were seeking to retrieve our own equipment, and address any misunderstanding concerning our role at the location. We sought a peaceful resolution rather than confrontation.

‘We are therefore deeply concerned by reports that have attributed responsibility for the incident and the alleged loss of life to our Chairman, Chief Dr. Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto, or have presented the vessel’s recovery operation as an operation undertaken by him in connection with the underlying oilfield activities.’

The vessel, ANAMBRA BASIN FSO, the statement said, is owned by Max Shipping Services Limited, a subsidiary of Ibeto Group, and was hired to Menal Technical Services Limited for deployment at the location.

‘The vessel’s ownership must be distinguished from the separate petroleum operations and community-related arrangements at Kula Community. Under the contractual arrangement, Menal Technical Services Limited, as the Hirer, was responsible for the vessel’s operations at the location, including the relevant operational arrangements and community-related obligations, in conjunction with the end user, as applicable.’

Accordingly, they said, the operational activities and arrangements undertaken by the Hirer and the end user in connection with the petroleum operations at the location should not be conflated with the ownership of the vessel.

‘We are deeply saddened by reports that a community boat capsized and that allegedly lives may have been lost. We recognise the distress and uncertainty experienced by those awaiting confirmation of the whereabouts and condition of their loved ones and as the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, we pray that the relevant security authorities investigate the incident and take all necessary lawful steps to protect human life and prevent further incidents.

‘We appeal to all parties to remain calm, refrain from violence, and allow the competent authorities to determine the facts.’

Max Shipping Services Limited was said to have always maintained cordial and peaceful relationships with its host community and neighbouring communities within its own areas of operation, supported by constructive community engagement and social responsibility initiatives.

They said the Company remained committed to fostering mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and positive relationships with the communities.

Max urged the media and the public to distinguish between the vessel’s ownership, the contractual responsibilities of its hirer, and the separate operations and arrangements at the oilfield. ‘Serious allegations should be based on verified facts, not assumptions.’

How the crushing and drowning took place:

BusinessDay deep inquiries and findings revealed that the NNPC/Belema JV awarded crude oil evacuation job to Max Shipping Ltd belonging to Ibeto Group since past few years.

The Kula community and their satellite settlements were said to have demanded for rights and host status in the evacuation jobs. The demand was said to have dragged on.

Max was said to have, however, given out some supply jobs to some Kula community vendors but the community claims they owed over the years.

Max hired out their vessel, Anambra Basin FSO to Penal Technical Services Ltd (hirer) to execute the job. The NNPC/Belema was said to have been unsatisfied with the services especially pollution issues and thus terminated the Max contract.

The community was said to have insisted that the vessel must leave their area until they were compensated for pollution, payment to community vendors, etc.

BusinessDay gathered that negotiations with the community continued at Ibeto office in GRA Port Harcourt. A source at the meetings told BusinessDay that as far as they were concerned, they were negotiating with Ibeto.

The source said they were surprised that while the negotiations were still ongoing, Ibeto through Max brought in the Army and attempted to pullout and go.

Community youths and vigilante team were said to have mobilized and intercepted the move and stopped them.

The vessel was described as very massive, but not self-propelled. It required two tug-boats to pull it along; one in front, one to push it at the back. Long ropes were tied to the sides of the vessel.

An army unit was procured to escort the vessel of the Kula waters. On the other hand, the Kula youths in their fast boat stayed at the side of the massive vessel, stopping it from going.

A source said at a point, the commander of the Army unit shouted order for the tugboat to pull. As it pulled, it was gathered that the rope stretched and threw the fastboat into the air and slammed it into the water (sea). The 15 youths allegedly slammed into the bottom of the sea, to the bottom of the vessel. Tragedy thus struck.

It was gathered that it was Community members that mobilized for rescue; they went to work and rescued some of the victims.

Eye witnesses said it must be the propeller of the fast boat that slashed at the victims. The bottom of the vessel was far into the water, and the youths were pushed there.

The rescue effort was said to find eight alive while seven were missing until five bodies were allegedly later found, still leaving two yet to be found.

Ibeto and Max insist that it is Penal Technicals Ltd (the hirer) that had any obligations and responsibilities with the Kula Community, but community sources insist that they had nothing to do with Penal but with Max for Ibeto.

On why the community youths chose the waterways to protest, a source said riverine people protest in the waters, not on land because they have no land like the upland people. On why the youths chose action instead of meetings with the company, the source said they had made several efforts and in fact were still in meetings in Port Harcourt when news came that the vessel was being pullout out. The source said the youths were given no option than to stage action.

Efforts to get reactions of the Army unit that was in charge of the escort duty have so far proved abortive.

Michael Carrick says dropping Bruno Fernandes to the bench for Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth was a ‘pure football’ decision, dismissing suggestions that the move was punishment for the captain’s criticism of his tactics.

Fernandes was named among the substitutes for Sunday’s match at Old Trafford, days after questioning United’s passive approach out of possession during their 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League.

Carrick, under pressure after United went seven games without a win in all competitions, said his selection was based on what he believed would give the team the best chance of producing a strong performance.

‘Picking the team is always a difficult decision,’ Carrick told Sky Sports. ‘We’ve got to make what we feel is the right one for the team to try to get the performance we want.’

He added: ‘When you have options, it’s always a difficult decision. We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want.’

The United manager rejected the suggestion that Fernandes had been dropped in response to his public comments, describing the decision as a footballing judgement.

Manchester United entered the clash with seven points from their opening seven matches. Carrick is under pressure to secure a result against Bournemouth and ease speculation surrounding his future.

Fernandes had criticised United’s defensive approach after Como’s emphatic victory in Italy, raising questions about the team’s tactics at a difficult moment in the season.

The Portugal international, 32, enjoyed an outstanding campaign last season, winning multiple individual awards and setting a Premier League record with 21 assists as United finished third. His influence has been more limited this season, apart from a hat-trick against Ipswich in August.

Carrick made four changes to his starting lineup, with Matheus Cunha, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui also dropping out. Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro, Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo came into the side.

Fernandes’ remarks followed criticism from teammate Lisandro Martínez, who had questioned whether United’s board did enough to strengthen the squad during the transfer window.

Martínez, however, was not dropped for those comments and was replaced at half-time in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Leeds after suffering an injury. He was named among the substitutes against Bournemouth.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) to deepen capital market participation, strengthen professional capacity and promote financial literacy among Nigerians.

Governor Sanwo-Olu gave the charge on Friday during a courtesy visit by the principal officers of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, led by its President and Chairman of Council, Fiona Ahimie, at Lagos House, Ikeja.

He noted that Nigeria’s capital market has recorded significant growth in recent years, commending professionals and investors for their contributions to the development of the sector.

Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed the need to deepen the market through increased public awareness, financial literacy and broader participation, particularly among Nigerians who may not fully understand the opportunities available.

He observed that many people are not familiar with investment opportunities beyond their daily financial needs, calling for deliberate efforts to educate the public on savings, investment and wealth creation.

The governor, who pledged his administration’s support for the CIS, expressed support for initiatives aimed at expanding financial literacy and developing more professionals to strengthen the capital market.

Governor Sanwo-Olu congratulated Ahimie on her emergence as the first female President of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, describing her appointment as a significant milestone for the professional body.

He expressed confidence in her leadership, urging the new Council to sustain the Institute’s achievements while advancing professionalism, public engagement and capacity development within the capital market.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said Lagos remains committed to supporting professional institutions and economic activities capable of promoting investment, creating jobs and improving opportunities for residents.

He also highlighted the importance of professional expertise in governance, noting that collaboration between public and private sector practitioners could improve institutional effectiveness and strategic development.

Speaking earlier, the President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Fiona Ahimie, congratulated Governor Sanwo-Olu on his association with the Institute, noting that his professional background and experience in public service made the engagement particularly significant.

Ahimie said the Institute’s annual conference, scheduled for November 4 and 5 in Lagos, would provide an opportunity to discuss the development of Nigeria’s capital market and the need to expand financial literacy and investment participation.

She noted that the Institute is collaborating with the Office of the Vice President on initiatives to train 10 million Nigerians in financial literacy and capital market participation.

According to her, the programme is expected to improve public understanding of investment opportunities and encourage more Nigerians, particularly young people, to participate in the capital market.

Ahimie also disclosed that the Institute is working towards establishing a N5 billion endowment fund to support capacity development and professional training.

The visit by the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ leadership underscored the importance of collaboration between the Lagos State Government and professional institutions in advancing financial literacy, investment awareness and economic development.