The Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Capt. Alex Badeh Jnr called at the weekend for the collaboration and support of all stakeholders to make safety the foundation of all modes of transportation in Nigeria.
He lamented the lack of cooperation from some transportation and maritime-related agencies of government, stating that many treat safety issues as a secret.
He spoke in Lagos during the maiden Transport Summit organized by the Transportation Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN), with the theme, “Intermodal Transport: Prospects and Challenges.”
Badeh, who was one of the discussants at the forum, stated that safety is paramount in all means of transportation. The NSIB, formerly known as the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), used to investigate only accidents in the air transport industry in Nigeria. However, with the amendment of its Act, the Bureau has been empowered to investigate accidents in all modes of transportation, modeled after the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The DG emphasized the need for collaboration among government agencies to replicate the safety measures in the aviation sector across all modes of transportation.
He noted that aviation is the second most regulated industry in the world, with safety as the number one priority, but lamented that the same strict regulations are not being observed in other modes of transportation.
He said, “The aviation industry is the second most regulated industry in the world after medicine. We talk about regulations all over the world. The more lives lost, the heavier the regulations in the industry.
“And yet, here, aside from aviation, everyone treats safety as a secret. You approach other agencies, but they tell you, ‘We are not aviation; why should we collaborate with you?’ When an accident occurs, you send letters to these agencies, but they ignore you. We can’t be everywhere as a Bureau. For example, some maritime agencies don’t want to cooperate with us.”
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The DG reiterated the safety bureau’s readiness to replicate the safety enjoyed in the aviation sector across other modes of transportation, with the cooperation and support of other involved agencies.
According to him, the NSIB’s investigations are not intended to assign blame but to ensure the safety of the public.
“As far as we are concerned at NSIB, we want the full cooperation of other agencies. NSIB is ready, and Nigeria is ready. Accident prevention is not just the responsibility of accident investigators or regulators; it is a shared responsibility with the public.
“So, I encourage TCAN and other agencies here to educate the public more and more. Let us work together to make safety the foundation of our transportation system in Nigeria,” he added.
Also speaking during the Transport Summit, former Commissioner for Transport in Lagos, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, stated that with the establishment of NSIB as a multimodal investigation agency, other agencies cannot investigate themselves.
Opeifa, who is the Executive Director of the Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenMAD), emphasized that it is wrong to determine the cause of any accident without proper investigation.
Speaking on behalf of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Head of Business Development for the Lagos Area Office, Mr. Michael Ogunsola, stated that the Authority has made significant efforts to curb incessant accidents on the waterways.
He noted that there is still an impression that NSIB is solely focused on aviation and promised the Authority’s readiness to partner with the Bureau to enhance safety on the waterways.
