About 16 abandoned vessels belonging to Nigerian ship owners were washed ashore Lagos coast on February 14, 2010 in an early morning squall.
About 16 abandoned vessels belonging to Nigerian ship owners were washed ashore Lagos coast on February 14, 2010 in an early morning squall.
Since then, there have been feeble attempts to completely remove all the abandoned ships. The environmental and economic impact of these ships and the plethora of derelicts that now liter the almost the entire coastline of Lagos is what has made the state government to decide to take the bull by the horn, and seize the initiative from the Federal Government whose agency; the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has the statutory responsibility of ensuring that the coastlines are safe for navigation.
Available statistics show that there are almost 100 rusty shipwrecks on Nigeria’s 853km shore. Some of them have been stranded for years and they are now being blamed for erosion that threatens homes and livelihoods.
Worst hit in Lagos are Maiyegun and Alpha beachfronts on the approaches to Lagos harbour and to show its determination to protect the coastline, the Lagos state government, through its Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince AdesegunOniru last week gave owners of wrecked vessels to remove them from the areas within 21 days.
The commissioner raised alarm that the degradation and decomposition of beached vessels causes major erosion, environmental pollution, adding that the effects of such poisonous substances in the waterways was hazardous to the ecosystem and poses threats to human life.
According to him, in addition, the abandoned vessels and wrecks encourage tidal lock, which in turn results in the distortion of the current and rise in sea level, thereby sparking abnormal sea action which erodes shorelines and cause flooding.
Prince Oniru warned that the state government would remove the wrecks after the 21-day ultimatum and institute legal action against owners of such vessels.
The duo of NIMASA and Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) had at one time ‘fought’ over who has the right to remove wrecks on Nigerian waters, later the then-minister of transport, Ibrahim Bio empanelled a committee to oversee the exercise, also at a point President Goodluck Jonathan came to Lagos and specifically visited the affected areas with a promise to arrest the situation.
The current move by the Lagos state government to rescue the state’s coastline is obviously because NIMASA has failed, the minister has failed and the President has also failed.
NIMASA is blamed by many for the number of wrecks, as it is responsible for the quality of ship that operates on Nigeria's waters and should be taking action to remove the stranded vessels.
Last year when he was asked to give reasons for the agency’s apparent failure, NIMASA’s director general, Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi said that officials of the agency were still carrying out an inventory of the number of ships stranded along the waterfront.
"Most of these ships that are abandoned in our waters are owned by foreigners. Foreigners have flouted our rules," he said.
"We are following due process in removing these wrecks and we are approaching the last lap of this process."
It is obvious that NIMASA has no intention to do anything, but to embark on rhetoric and promises, hence, the Lagos state government should be commended, but can it fund the exercise, does it have the powers to force owners of the ships to pay for their removal?
What the state Commissioner for Waterfront and Infrastructure Development, Prince AdesegunOniru said recently about the apathy on the part of NIMAS is correct.
If, for so many years, the number of abandoned ships on Lagos waterfronts have been increasing and NIMASA have not been able to do anything, is it now that the Lagos state government has declared its intention to remove the wrecks that NIMASA suddenly realises that it has a responsibility to clean up the waterways.
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