Editorial

The Kebbi boat disaster

TRAGEDY struck last week when a boat carrying 50 people capsized in the Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State, leaving 40 passengers unaccounted for. The survivors were rescued alive by local divers. The boat, which reportedly had the accident around noon while ferrying passengers to the Yauri weekly market, was coming from Kasabo in Agura Local Government of Niger State. According to the chairman of Yauri Local Government, Bala Mohammed, the incident was due to intense water waves in the Niger River. There was, however, some controversy about the casualty figures as the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) claimed that the boat was carrying only 22 passengers and none had been recovered yet. Director General of the agency, Salihu Garba, told journalists in Minna, the Niger State capital, that local divers were conducting search and rescue operations under the agency’s supervision.

Riverine states in the country have been witnessing a resurgence of boat mishaps this rainy season. Reports say that states like Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Adamawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Kano have witnessed a high rate of boat mishaps blamed on the lack of life jackets, and overloading, among other infractions. The Yauri tragedy came on the heels of a similar incident in Niger State which claimed 26 lives. In another incident, 15 people died in a boat mishap in Adamawa State. Nigerians have of course not forgotten the tragedy that unfolded in June when 108 lives were lost at Egbu village in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State as guests returning from a wedding ceremony perished in a boat accident. Most of the guests from the villages of Sampi, Gakpan, Ebu and Kuchalu and Kpada had reportedly arrived the venue on motorbikes but resorted to a boat ride after the road leading into the village was cut off by heavy rain. According to the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), preliminary investigations revealed that the vessel was overloaded, carrying over 250 persons and luggage, with the victims not wearing life jackets even as they travelled at about 2:30am. The current tragedy has similar imprints.

It is indeed tragic that about 40 people may have died in last week’s boat accident. We commiserate with the families of the victims and wish the survivors speedy recovery. Still, we believe that things would have been remarkably different with a different system in place. Yes, the accident has been linked to the force of nature, but it is a no-brainer that the impact of accidents anywhere in the world can be minimised with proper equipment and timely response by safety agencies. If anything, the incident points to the continuing lethargy of government in treating water transport with the seriousness and critical monitoring that it deserves. Time and again, we have called for necessary governmental intervention to stem the tide of increasing yet avoidable deaths on the waters due to unregulated undertaking of water transportation with rickety boats and without the required safety provisions. The idea of the government coming out after every boat disaster to bemoan the loss of life and sympathise with the families of those lost is warped. It cannot change or seriously address the sad situation. There must be concrete structures put in place for a more safety-conscious and pro-life experience on the country’s waters.

Surely, the government has a responsibility to establish rules and regulations that would ensure that human life is not needlessly endangered with rickety boats and the non-provision of life jackets. We expect the government to insist on strict adherence to rules and regulations. For a long as water transport continues to be treated as an all-comers’ affairs without ground rules, for so long will the country continue to witness avoidable accidents. This is a tragic state of affairs because apart from protecting life and property, a properly regulated and properly run water transport system is a catalyst for economic development. There is no justification for water transport being a tragedy waiting to happen in the country. People will not obey the law where the government continues to treat water transport as an afterthought, concentrating whatever little effort it makes on road transport. As it were, Nigerians using water transport are at the mercy of the elements. That is typically not how a serious country works.

Going forward, the government has to show its readiness to prevent avoidable new deaths on the water waves. It must learn from the regrettable losses of life in the recent boat mishaps and put in place structures to guarantee safety of water transport.

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