Lagos Governor; Babatunde Fashola Blasts NIMASA Over Abandoned Vessels

Coming on the heels of marine accidents as a result of abandoned vessels on the shorelines and coastlines of Lagos State, Governor of the State; Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has lambasted the apex maritime regulatory agency in Nigeria; the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for allegedly failing to live up to its responsibilities

Fashola dropped the verdict while fielding questions from newsmen on the sidelines of the just- concluded 13th meeting of the National Council on Transport (NCT) which held in Lagos last week.

The Governor lamented that it costs the state government millions of Naira to excavate abandoned vessels from Lagos shorelines and coastlines, a function which ordinarily should be done by the maritime safety agency.

According to the Governor, due to the danger they portend, the state had called for the vessels to be towed away, but that there was no response from anywhere.

Fashola observed that old vessels owned by foreign shipping companies have, found a haven in Nigeria where they can abandon their rickety ships. This according to him is due to the laxity of Nigerian maritime laws.

Shipping Position Daily had exclusive reported recently, the ill fated vessel; MT Victory '1' which had gone aground around the Lagos bar beach during a heavy storm that had caused the vessel to take in water.

But speaking at the event, Fashola wondered that: "One is at a loss as to know whether it is NIMASA' s responsibility or the Nigerian Ports Authority, but the truth is that every vessel that beaches on our coastline creates massive ecological problem for us, such as shoreline erosions, and it costs millions of Naira by the State Government to scrap and excavate these vessels in a manner that does not suggest to us that the agency responsible for protecting the coastline is really up and doing about its responsibilities"

"We are also aware that some European ship owners because of huge cost of savage and the very tight regulatory regime in Europe have found Nigeria and our waterways a place to come and abandon very old and un-seaworthy vessels, some of these vessels also find their way to our shoreline" Fashola said.

He called for renewed efforts by maritime regulatory agencies to seat up and be alive to their responsibilities.

"It therefore means that we must raise the game, we must police our waterways and it is also a very serious line of defence in terms of national security" he said

The Governor also lampooned the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and warned the agency to stop being a clog in the wheel of progress in Lagos State.

According to him, the state will not be subjected to taking permissions and approval from NIWA before it can be able to carry out major construction works on Lagos waters.

While speaking earlier at the meeting, Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar revealed that the Federal Government is developing a robust National Dredging Programme which will involve the NIWA, the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers and Private Sectors with a view to the continuous sweeping of the channels and undertake maintenance activities.

According to him “the National Dredging Programme is equally expected to address the challenges of flooding"