With every boat that capsizes and every life lost on our inland waterways, the silence of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) becomes more damning. As the death toll rises, one thing becomes brutally clear: NIWA is not working, and its current leadership is failing the nation.
Stone Reporters News finds it both infuriating and heartbreaking that travel by water has become a gamble with death in a country as richly endowed with inland waterways as Nigeria. The faces of the victims vary—children on their way to school, market traders trying to earn a living, patients heading to health centers—but the story remains the same: a preventable tragedy, enabled by institutional failure.
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⚓ Who Is Responsible? NIWA.
The National Inland Waterways Authority was created not to issue excuses or hand out photo-op life jackets. It was meant to regulate, protect, and build a system that makes water transport safe, reliable, and modern. What exists today is a hollow shell—an agency stripped of direction, innovation, and responsibility.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, must answer for the appalling state of Nigeria’s inland waterways. While he attends protocol events and drafts empty statements, communities are drowning—literally.
As rightly noted by the Blue Marine Alliance:
“The idea of sharing life jackets and posting waterways marshals is not addressing the core of the problem.”
And it’s not. These are cosmetic efforts. Meanwhile, basic regulatory enforcement is nonexistent. Boat operators still overload vessels. Night travel continues unchecked. Safety inspections are not routine. And there is no national water safety policy in action.
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🌊 Waterways Should Be Assets, Not Death Traps
In riverside communities, boats are not luxuries—they are lifelines. They connect Nigerians to markets, schools, health care, and family. Yet, each trip feels like a risk to life and limb.
It’s a system designed to fail, not because Nigeria lacks the resources or technical knowledge, but because leadership at NIWA lacks the will and competence to act.
Leadership is not about holding office; it’s about protecting lives and building systems that work.
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🗣️ Resign If You Can't Lead
If Mr. Bola Oyebamiji cannot lead with purpose, urgency, and accountability, then the honourable path is resignation. Let someone who understands what is at stake—human lives—take the reins.
There is growing speculation that Mr. Oyebamiji’s focus is no longer on waterways, but rather on political ambitions—reportedly eyeing a gubernatorial ticket for the 2026 elections.
If true, Nigerians deserve clarity: Is our inland water system being sacrificed for one man’s political ambition?
You cannot run for governor while you run away from your responsibility.
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🔊 Stone Reporters News Demands Action
We call on:
The Federal Ministry of Transport to launch an immediate performance audit of NIWA.
The National Assembly Committees on Marine Transport to hold public hearings into recurring water transport deaths.
Civil society and affected communities to organize and demand real reform in inland waterway management.
The people of this country are not expendable. We must stop acting like their deaths are acceptable collateral in a broken system.
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💬 Final Word
NIWA was created to save lives, not issue condolences.
Our rivers should carry our people to opportunity—not to their graves.
We demand accountability. We demand safety. We demand leadership.
And if leadership will not come, then we demand change.
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— Stone Reporters Editorial Desk
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