The need to decentralise powers of NIWA over waterways transportation.

Water transport the world over is the most desirable mode of transportation due to its affordability and low maintenance costs.

It is an attractive alternative to other means of transportation, especially road which is characterised by delays and high propensity for accidents.

Therefore, most countries of the world, especially those with coastal endowments, strive to have efficient, co-ordinated and purpose-driven water transportation systems that provide safe, secured and cost-effective mode of conveyance, with minimal risks.

Curiously, Nigeria has one of the most under-utilised, inefficiently run water transportation system that is bogged down by excessive bureaucracy.

The country has a large resource base of waterways spanning over 10,000 kilometres of which over 3,800 kilometres is navigable seasonally.

Out of the 36 states of the Federation, 28 states can be accessed through water while Nigeria is linked to five of its neighbouring countries through waterways.

Unfortunately, despite these abundant coastal attributes, Nigeria’s waterways transportation is still underdeveloped and unattractive because it is highly prone to hazards.

Majority of people still prefer road transportation despite its delays, higher risks, high cost and unpredictability, thus putting unnecessary pressure on the poorly built network of roads.

The preference for the road transportation system in the country , despite its hazards, was borne out of the people’s trepidation and phobia for water transportation as a result of the high rate of mishaps being recorded on our waterways on regular basis.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the regulatory agency that has statutory powers and duties to manage and control our waterways transportation seems helpless over the poor state of the system.

Despite the good intentions and commitment of the agency to fashion out safe, secure and sustainable inland waterways transportation, the government parastatal is undoubtedly overwhelmed and over-burdened by the sheer size of the responsibilities and duties of modern water transport.

We sympathise with NIWA for its apparent lack of capacity in tackling the myriad of challenges that have hobbled an effective and efficient waterways transportation in the country.

Our sympathy is situated within the context of the grossly inadequate human and capital resources at the disposal of the agency to overseas and manage over 10,000 kilometres of coastline in the country.

We are more perturbed than amused by the disturbing fact that the agency has about 533 personnel to carry out this gargantuan task.

Our worry is further accentuated when the agency’s staff numerical strength is juxtaposed with its numerous activities which sharply brings to focus the gross incapability and inefficiency of the agency which has long become its hallmark.

The agency performs some key functions which include regulatory services that gives it the right to issue licenses for inland navigation, piers, jetties and dockyards, grants permits and licenses for sand dredging, pipeline construction etc.

It also carries out transport services which involves ferry services, cruise boats for tourism and leisure.

The agency is further charged with engineering services which involves construction of inland river ports, jetties, capital and maintenance dredging etc.

It is also charged with environmental services which involves ecological issues, removal of water hyacinth and other aquatic harmful weeds, carrying out environmental impact assessment of navigation and other dredging activities.

The agency is also saddled with marine services, survey, safety and security and other general services.

It goes without saying that these duties and responsibilities will clearly overwhelm and over stretch the lean staff strength of the agency which will invariably lead to some of these duties unattended to.

One should then be least surprised at the spate of accidents and other forms of mishaps on our inland waterways because the agency charged with ensuring safe and secured water transportation is over-worked, over-stretched and overwhelmed.

The hapless authority of the agency, acknowledged its helplessness at the situation when its spokesman, Tayo Fadile, declared that “NIWA is trying its best to reduce considerably the spate of boat mishaps on our waterways since the assumption of Senator Mamora who with barely 500 staff is expected to develop, manage and control well over 10,000 kilometres of navigable waterways, about the biggest in Africa.”

One can only empathise and sympathise with the management of the agency which is expected to do more with little.

We commend the authority of NIWA for its boldness to confess its challenges and lack of capacity to cope with this enormous task.

Another agency in a similar situation would have engaged in self-denial.

In a bid to have functional and sustainable waterways transportation system in the country, the federal government needs to decentralise the powers and control of NIWA.

There is need to shed the duties and responsibilities of the agency and share them with the coastal states in the country.

There are two options opened to the Federal Government which we recommend if it is desirous of safe, secured and robust water transportation system in the country.

The first option is to empower the regulatory agency, which is NIWA, to enable it rise up to the daunting task.

This could be done if government increases the funding of the agency and gives it financial autonomy.

Tayo Fadile said this much when he stated that Senator Mamora , the Managing Director of the agency and his team “are trying very hard to ensure the passage of the new NIWA Act that will raise the financial status of NIWA and help NIWA to meet up with the basic functions and expectations by the general public, because with increased funding and financial autonomy, NIWA will be able to live up to its obligation of “providing ways and means on Nigerian waterways”.

But knowing how far-fetched this dream and aspiration might be in view of the inclement economic conditions which has castrated government’s ability to spend and may thus, delay the process, the second option opened to government is the devolution of the powers and authority of the agency to the states, especially the coastal states to take control of their intra-state waterways.

This option may be a shot in the dark given the fact that it would require amendments to the Constitution where water transportation is on the exclusive legislative list as well as NIWA Act.

We are under no illusion that this option will be a long-drawn process and time is of the essence if we want to find a lasting solution to the carnage on our waterways.

We recommend therefore that the Federal Government should explore the window of opportunity offered by the judicial resolution of the supremacy tussle between NIWA and the Lagos State government over the control of waterways in the state.

After a long-drawn legal battle which got to the Appeal court, the Court affirmed the authority of the Lagos State government through its agency, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) to regulate and control the waterways in the state.

The Court held that the inland waterways within Lagos State are not and cannot by any stretch of interpretation be covered by any item on the Exclusive Legislative list under Part 1 to the Second Schedule of the Constitution and the authority of the Lagos State House of Assembly to legislate in respect of all intra-state inland waterways is not in doubt and all other inland waterways within Lagos State are within the legislative competence of the Lagos State House of Assembly and any revenue accruable therefrom is payable to the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

On the strength of this judicial interpretation of the powers and control of NIWA as contained in the Constitution, we recommend that other coastal states in the country such as Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ogun and Ondo states, should be given authority to manage and administer the waterways in their states, just like Lagos.

In addition, all the other states among the 28 states that are accessible by water, should also be allowed to take charge of the running of the waterways in their jurisdiction.

This arrangement, as unpopular as it may seems to NIWA, will address the issue of the dearth of personnel, funding and infrastructural gap that have combined to render waterways transportation unattractive and secured in Nigeria.

It will by no means take away the relevance of NIWA as they will still be overall boss (landlord) of Nigeria inland waterways.

NIWA , by this arrangement, will still retain its statutory roles, but shed some basic duties which will be taken over by the federating states, and allows the agency to concentrate on other core technical and engineering duties.

We consider the role of transport services which made NIWA to engage in ferry services as too mundane and a distraction from more serious engagement but which should be left entirely for states and private operators.

We believe that by devolution of powers and control to the Coastal states, there would be sanity on the waterways as these states, with guaranteed revenue, would deploy more resources to provide infrastructure and qualified personnel that would ensure safe and secured water transportation in the country.