Captain Taiwo Akinpelumi (Lagos Coordinator of NISA )
Captain Taiwo Akinpelumi (Lagos Coordinator of NISA )
The activities in Lagos inland waters in terms of commercial value cannot be comparable with what we have in Lokoja. You recall, NPA, NIMASA had their headquarters in Abuja where there is no maritime activities and at the end, the agencies were relocated back to Lagos State. It is always better to put in place agencies where their activities will perform better. In a nutshell, I 'm an advocate of relocating NIWA's headquarters from Lokoja to Lagos because it will bring about optimal performance.
Comrade Owolabi Omotayo (Water Transporter)
If you look at the functionality of NIWA? recently, you will see that they are not really performing, a lot of their duties are being abandoned and not being properly pursued, their coming back to Lagos will add more to the service delivery of the agency. A lot of things are happening on our waterways and yet they have their branches all over the country and other riverine areas, but Lagos is the centralized commercial centre where the impact of NIWA should really be felt. It is the inefficiency and short coming of NIWA that necessitated the establishment of LASWA? by the Lagos State Government, we are not objecting to that because the two can actually work together for the betterment of the sector, the water ways and other regulatory bodies. Moving to Lagos will enhance their productivity.
Muhammed Suleiman (Merchant Navy)
At the moment, Lokoja is the headquarters of NIWA and I would say that they are not properly positioned to function effectively and efficiently. The major operators or investors are based in Lagos where inland water transportation is commonly accepted than anywhere else in the whole of Nigeria. Lagos remains the heart of water transport business and it is expected that the regulatory agency of government must be close to the stakeholders and operators. There is an increase in competition in the Lagos unlike what is obtainable elsewhere as regards water transport, therefore I strongly support the relocation of NIWA back to Lagos State from Lokoja.
John Okpono (Asst Sec Gen, Merchant Navy)
The essence of NIWA's establishment is all about revenue drive for the government and before now their revenue drive was based in Lagos. At a time we had jetties in areas like Mile 2, Satellite etc. In a nutshell they have a wider scope but as soon as the headquarters was relocated to Lokoja, all those jetties crumble because the agency lack proper monitoring of its own operations as a result of mismanagement. Lokoja which happens to be the headquarters has no relevance when we talk about water transportation. What is the revenue drive in Lokoja when compared to Lagos? It is better for the agency to have its presence in a state where bulk of the job is obtainable. Just like what President did to the military by relocating the headquarters to Maiduguri for the sake of efficiency and effective combating of insurgency. The closer you get to the hub the more strategic you become and that is why Lagos is where bulk of water business is.
Dr. Frank Ukor (President AREFFN)
Lagos is so much concentrated with agencies, in Lokoja, it is a meeting point between River Niger and River Benue, let NIWA be in Lokoja since it is also part of Nigeria. I am not against their being there, so far they will still be covering the nation's waterways, they have liaison offices all around the country, let the liaison offices be doing the jobs while the Lokoja office do the administrative works, the world is a global village, they can be there and input anything into the system and they will work together. I think Nigeria is growing and we are now e-compliant, we are now using computers to do everything, we don't want to know where their headquarters is, let them remain where they are and do their work from there.
Babatunde Akande (Boat Operator)
I have not been to Lokoja before, but I know that the population of the people in Lagos is more than Lokoja, and the water in Lokoja, ships are not berthing there. I will prefer that NIWA be relocated from Lokoja to Lagos.? Based on the population and the water activities they must move to Lagos.
Shola Fadeyi (Maritime Journalist)
I think this is what government should have done, during Obasanjo's regime when three key maritime parastatals; Nigerian Shippers Council, Nigerian Ports Authority and NIMASA were directed to move their administrative offices from Abuja to Lagos. I don't know why NIWA was left out, NIWA is a maritime agency of government and I believe their being in Lagos will facilitate things, the stakeholders who have one or two things to do with NIWA are all located in Lagos and moving the agency will help them better, it will facilitate a lot of decision making process, I believe one of the first things Buhari should do is relocate NIWA, it will be in the interest of stakeholders and even the management of NIWA.
Oluwole Jelili (Banker)
Bringing the regulatory agency back to Lagos from Lokoja will further reposition NIWA to perform better because it will be able to monitor such activities that transpire on the inland waters, it will also make the agency to interface with the stakeholders directly. I strongly advice the President Buhari led administration to relocate the agency back to Lagos. NIWA has no business sitting in Lokoja. Lagos remain the hub of maritime activities and inland water transport business is not an exception and don't also forget in a hurry that Lagos State has the highest number of investors which cannot be compared with that of Lokoja. However, you will also find out that some investors travel to Lokoja from Lagos for business purposes and in less than ten minute they are done then travel back to Lagos. At the end you find out that many of the investors waste their precious time to go to Lokoja over a piece of paper on how to start a water transport business.
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