‘Seven states record 200 boat accident deaths in 2023’

Over 200 people lost their lives as a result of boat accidents in seven states this year, the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration report revealed on Tuesday.

It said findings by CIOTA showed that the accidents occurred in Kwara, Calabar, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Ondo states, adding that thousands had died from road crashes across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory.

This came as Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, outlined the vision of the Federal Government in reforming the country’s transportation sector.

Shettima and the President of CIOTA, Segun Obayendo, spoke at the institute’s 5th annual national summit in Abuja, with the theme “Emerging National Governance Challenges and Prospects.”

In his address at the summit, Obayendo said, “Recent incidents across all transport modes in Nigeria have sounded a clarion call for urgent and decisive action.

“From air and rail incidents to road accidents and unsafe waters; between January and June this year, thousands of people have died in road crashes across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Also, this year alone, more than 200 lives were lost to boat accidents from Kwara to Calabar, Nasarawa, and Adamawa to Sokoto, Kebbi, Ondo.”

He called for a national overview of the sector, stressing that it would define the structure, standard operating procedure, best practices, and compliance system in the transportation industry.

“Does our country have a National Transport Policy? Where are we on the National Transport Commission? How strong is our regulatory framework? This is the crux of the theme of this summit.

“The sooner we agree that the Government alone cannot do it all, the better for us. The earlier we accept the indispensability of CIOTA in the transportation geometric equation, the safer, more secured, and efficient we become,” Obayendo stated.

On his part, the Vice President, represented by Special Adviser, General-Duties, to the President, Office of the Vice President, Aliyu Modibbo, said the government would address the transportation challenges caused by the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

He said none of the government’s eight presidential priorities, from food security to job creation, could be achieved without a functional transportation system.

“Mr President’s critical points of focus require an efficiently functional transportation system to achieve our mandate.

“We will find it useful to have suggestions from the institute, well-thought-out policy enunciation, transportation infrastructure designs, and effective operational management strategies in all modes of transportation,” Shettima stated.