Following the decision of the nation’s apex court, the Supreme Court, to bar Lagos State from regulating inland waterways activities in the state, boat operators have raised concerns over the continuous management of some multi-billion Naira assets already installed and commissioned by the Lagos State government.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, a cross section of boat operator who would not want their names in print explained that assets like the Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre (WMDMC), DJI Aerial Drone, BlueEye Pro drone, and the multi-billion Naira Floating Clinic all located at the Search and Rescue Centre of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) in Falomo, Ikoyi, must not be allowed to rot away.
According to the boat operator, “In fairness to Lagos State, so much has been invested in the management of inland waterways with so much revenue expected from the sector.
“In 2022, the state commissioned the Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre (WMDMC), DJI Aerial Drone and the BlueEye Pro drone, and the multi-billion Naira floating clinic, all in its efforts to maintain a grip of the inland waterways.
“Also, this year alone, the state government has commissioned four new jetties in Ijegun-Egba, Ilashe in Amuwo-Odofin, Isalu-Ajido and Marina in Badagry.
“All this investment was done to obviously shore up the state revenue purse from inland waterways regulation. However, that has been affected by the Supreme Court judgment which says the state should hands off inland waterways’ activities. We just hope the assets already invested in the waterways are not left to rot away.
“The state government should find a way around it through synergy with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to ensure these assets are still being put to good use. If not, most of them could be left to rot if the state government does not see the projected revenue coming in as a result of the Supreme Court judgment, which has obviously put a spanner in the revenue drive of the state as regards inland waterways activities.
“Also, now that inland waterways regulation has been handed solely to NIWA, we need more modern jetties to be built across the Lagos waterways. Lagos is the largest revenue earner for NIWA, so much more needs to be done in Lagos. It was due to noticeable gaps in investment in infrastructures that made the state government to come into inland waterways regulation in the first place. But now that the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of NIWA, it is time the Federal Government announce its presence massively in Lagos State by constructing modern jetties for inland waterways users.”
