Members of ATBOWATON wearing the jackets for display.
Water transporters in Ogun State under the aegis of their umbrella body, the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON) on Wednesday collected life jackets given to the state by the Federal Government to boost safety on the waterways in the state.
According to Engr. Ipinmoroti Adeleye, the Area Manager of the Nigerian Inland Water Authority (NIWA), the 1000 life jackets given to the water boats operators represented part of the 3,500 jackets earmarked for the state.
During the distribution which was held on Wednesday in Abeokuta and was witnessed by several stakeholders in boat transportation and tourism industry in Ogun, water boat operators were enjoined to ensure strict adherence to safety protocols by ensuring usage of the jackets by all water farers bordering their vehicles.
In his welcome address, Engr. Ipinmoroti disclosed that not less than 42,000 life-saving jackets would be distributed across the nation by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, noting that the total life-saving jackets expected to be distributed in Ogun is 3,500, adding that the 1,000 being distributed today is just for a pilot.
Adeleye emphasised the need for ATBOWATON stakeholders to join forces with the Federal Government and state governments in ensuring the safety of lives of operators and their passengers across the water routes in Ogun.
He explained that NIWA and other water security agents will commence monitoring strict adherence to safety as soon as possible, and operators found wanting would be sanctioned.
According to him: NIWA being a parastatal of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, we are here in collaboration with the state to ensure proper distribution of these life-saving jackets and its usage.
“There is a regulation that has been gazetted, we call it the Inland Waterways Transportation Code of 2023, and the enforcement is already out right now, so as these people are receiving their life-saving jackets today, we are going out for enforcement”, he disclosed.
He added that the enforcements will not be by civil servants alone as it would be in collaboration with the NIWA police, Marine police, Navy, Civil Defence and other security personnel”, he disclosed.
Engr. Adeleye said “all these agencies will be on standby to ensure that the life-saving jackets are properly used. They will maintain absolute safety because of safety on the water”.
Also speaking, the National President of ATBOWATON Chief Ganiu Sekoni Balogun described the federal government and state government intervention as a laudable and described the initiative as an affirmation of Federal Government’s commitment to the safety of those plying the nation’s water routes.
Balogun maintained that his leadership would do everything to prevent the death on the nation’s waters, adding that henceforth, usage would be mandated for passengers and boat operators across the state.
He disclosed that the initiative has eased the burden on operators, as it is also in alignment with the slogan of ATBOWATON: “No jackets, No entry”.
He noted that the bestowal of the jackets “is a very great privilege for us because as you can see, they are expensive; each costs more than N30,000, so imagine a boat in Ogun would carry not less than 20-22 passengers, which means there must be 22 life-saving jackets in the boat. So, for the boat operators to be able to afford that, it’s a burden, but the government has provided that, so it’s a great privilege from the government and NIWA. So we want to promise that we will do all we can to ensure that boat operators are using it. That is one of the reasons why we are here today; we would have taken it to our jetties. We want to bring them together so that NIWA can talk to them.”
“We have fines for any boat operators operating without life-saving jackets, so we are going to discuss how much the penalty would be for anyone carrying passengers without life-saving jackets since now they have the life-saving jackets for free”.
The National Vice President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Hon.Apata Samson, encouraged operators to ensure that they enforce the usage of these life-saving jackets on passengers.
Those present at the distribution included the immediate past National Vice President South West of the Federation of Tourism Association of Tourism Nigeria, Dr. Kolade, the National Vice President of Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria Hon.Apata Samson, Acting Chairperson of ATPN Mrs. Olufunke Ogunremi, Mr. Akinsola Samuel Pioneer Secretary ATPN Ogun, Representative Ministry of Transportation, Acting state chairman of ATBOWATON Ogun Mr. Tanimola Bakare and others
