The inland waterways issue

FOLLOWING the recent decision of Nigeria’s Supreme Court barring the Lagos State government from regulating inland waterways activities in the state, some boat operators raised concerns over the continuous management of some of the multibillion naira assets already installed and commissioned by the Lagos State government. According to a cross-section of the boat operators, assets like the Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre (WMDMC), DJI Aerial Drone, Blueeye Prodrone and the multibillion naira floating clinic, all located at the Search and Rescue Centre of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) in Falomo, Ikoyi, must not be allowed to rot away. They urged the Lagos State government to find a way around the issue through synergy with the National Inland Waterways Authorities (NIWA) in order to ensure that the assets are put to good use and not left to rot away with the inevitable cessation of the projected revenue accruing to the Lagos State government following the Supreme Court judgment.

Dissatisfied with the multiplicity of charges levied by both federal and Lagos State government agencies, the incorporated trustees of the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transportation of Nigeria (ATBOWTN) and the incorporated trustees of the Dredgers Association of Nigeria (DAN) had filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, in 2012, asking the court to determine which tier of government had the legal authority to license and levy business operators on the nation’s inland waterways. In a judgment delivered on March 28, 2014, the court had ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, asking LASWA and the Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructural Development to hand off control of the commercial activities of the plaintiffs. The decision was however nullified by the Court of Appeal in its July 18, 2017 judgment, following the appeal filed by the Lagos State government. The apex court, however, overruled the appellate court in its January 5, 2024 judgment, ending the Lagos State government’s 15-year control of the inland waterways through levying and licensing of operators in the sector.

A panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro outlawed state governments’ control over the country’s inland waterways, saying that it is the sole responsibility of the Federal Government to impose levies and issue licences to operators in the industry. According to the court, existing laws confer exclusive control of activities in the inland waterways on the Federal Government through its agencies, NIWA and the Nigerian Maritime Standard and Safety Agency (NMSSA) and no other tier of government. NIWA, it held, is the agency of government vested with the “powers to exclusively manage, direct and control all activities on the navigable waters and their right of way throughout the country for inland navigation, pursuant to Sections 8 and 9 of the NIWA Act.”

This is, we believe, definitely an opportunity to amend the constitution. We do not believe that the cause of national development will be served under the current laws which preclude states as federating units from harnessing their respective inland water resources for the purposes of development. As it has been demonstrated over the years, the undue federalisation of nearly everything that makes Nigeria a country has hampered the development of the country for ages. The agitation to democratise and liberalise various sectors of what is currenttly the Nigerian contraption is really for the purpose of opening up the country to development through a bottom-up approach. Pray, why leave it strictly to the Federal Government to regulate a boat ride from Lagos Island to Ikorodu? Is it that the federal government has no better thing to do? We remain persuaded that the Federal Government has too many things on its plate already to concern itself with, say, the price of fish in Epe or thereabouts when it has left so many other fundamental things unattended to.

The Nigerian constitution, as it is presently configured, is too deeply flawed to guarantee reasonable, sustainable development and there is a desperate need to overhaul it to reflect the true yearnings of Nigerians. Nigeria needs to be restructured. How can states that have invested in their inland waterways be simply asked to hand off them? It really boggles the mind! We urge the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly to push for the amendment of the constitution. The governments of Niger, Ondo, Benue, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos States, among others, should take more than a passing interest in this matter and sustain the agitation to put an end to the Federal Government’s exclusive hold on the inland waterways. We insist that the Federal Government has too many things on its plate, including even marriage registries, to be fit for purpose. It takes on a myriad of responsibilities but leaves things to rot invariably.

We recall with indignation how spirited efforts were made by the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to deprive many communities across the country of their land and water resources in order to actualise the RUGA project. There are federal governments elsewhere in the world that do not take up every responsibility under the sun. The law must be amended to give states the opportunity to harness their inland waterways resources for optimal growth. The extant laws are repugnant to natural justice.