The Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in collaboration with the National Inland Waterways Authority have trained boat operators, drivers and passengers in Anambra as part of measures to ensure safety on waterways during the festive period.
The three-day training, which ended at the NIWA Area Office in Onitsha, on Saturday, was the Federal Government’s response to accident and investigation findings which revealed that lack of knowledge is a major contributor to boat accidents in Nigeria.
Speaking on the topic titled, ‘Navigation and seamanship for boat drivers and skippers’ during the exercise, the Lead Consultant for the training, Amuzat Adebayo, said that by equipping boat operators with the right skills in navigation, safety and emergency response, lives will be protected on Nigeria’s waterways.
Adebayo warned boat drivers to refrain from taking any alcoholic drink while operating their boats or embarking on any journey on the waterways, just as he warned against taking any hard drug before, or on their journey, and while driving.
He lamented that most boat drivers take hard drugs before embarking on journeys because they don’t want to be advised by passengers, saying that it is a part of the conduct of the boat drivers that must not be tolerated.
He said, “You must comply with the rules and listen to the directive of the supervising authority on how to ensure safety on the waterways. When embarking on a journey, you must comply with the weather conditions.
“When you see that it is already raining, the weather is not good, you should stay back and wait to ensure that the weather is clement and safe for you to embark on your journey. You must also avoid late or night journeys; the rules say you should not move once it is 6 pm on the waterways.
“There is also the need to learn how to talk to passengers politely, no doubt some passengers are always in a hurry and want to move with any available boat, disregarding the number of passengers that should be carried at a time by each boat. Such passengers should be educated politely about why it is not safe for them to be in an overloaded boat.
“They should be made to understand that the boat has a specified number of people to carry, and the boat drivers can be punished for non-compliance.
“Passengers should be made to know that there are rules, regulations and guidelines on the operation of boats, just as making them understand the actual number of passengers a boat can carry, and there are professional standards that must be maintained by them.
“Boat drivers are encouraged to be blunt enough to tell any passenger in a hurry that this is the specified number they can carry, without overspeeding and for them come back to take the other passengers.”
Also speaking, an engineer who spoke on behalf of the NIWA Area Manager, Onitsha, John Olusola, said safety on the waterways is the priority of NIWA, adding that navigation rules must be maintained.
Olusola said, “NIWA will always strive to make boat operators and their drivers understand and keep the regulations. We will also make them understand that there are penalties for contravening the transportation regulation code of conduct for the waterways users.
“There is punishment for not using life jackets. We pass this information across to them so that they will know. We teach them so that when we engage in enforcement, they will not complain that they were not told. Adherence to safety rules is essential in preventing accidents on Nigeria’s waterways.”
The Commanding Officer, Naval Outpost Onitsha, Kabiu Yusuf, urged boat operators and drivers to deploy professional conduct on the waters.
Yusuf advised the boat drivers to desist from carrying beyond the capacity of their boats.
Chairman, Maritime Workers Union, Charles Nwabunwanne, thanked the organisers of the training, saying that if they had had the training, the boat mishap that affected one of their boats in June this year would not have happened.
The spokesman for the Anambra Boat Operators and Drivers, Osita Nwachukwu, commended the organisers for making the training interactive, which allowed the boat operators to share their experiences.
Nwachukwu noted that the training covered a wide range of areas of what they need in the waterways navigation.
“As water transporters, we need safety because it is our major priority as we navigate the waters. Whatever we are doing on the waters, we need safety, which is why we see this training as very important, apt, and at a time it is needed most, when there is a rush for people to go home.
“We plead that the training needs to be done quarterly in a year. We need this kind of training about four times a year, so that we can replicate the training to our colleagues who could not make it here today.
“We thank the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, the Managing Director/CEO of NIWA, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, and the visionary leadership of President Bola Tinubu, whose administration continues to prioritise safety, capacity building, and sustainable development of Nigeria’s waterways,” he added.
