We're engaging security agencies to secure waterways – NIWA

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Inland Waterway Authority (NIWA) Dr George Muoghalu, said the authority is engaging security agencies, especially the Nigerian Navy to play the expected role of ensuring that the waterways are secured and safe for use.

He also said the Authority was working hard to ensure that the 10000 kilometers waterways are all year round navigated.

Dr Muoghalu, who spoke during a facility tour of the Nigeria Naval shipyard, Port Harcourt, to ascertain the level of preparedness of the dredging company, Nwakama Dredgers, to work with the Authority as part of its local content development, said that the agency is working to make waterways the best choice of transportation.

He said of the 10000 kilometers of Nigeria’s waterways, only 3600 kilometers are all year round navigated.

“We want to ensure that the waterways are all year round navigated. The issue of insecurity on the waterways has been there and it is being addressed. We have marine police whose primary responsibility is to protect the waterways and we are engaging the security agencies, for example the Nigerian Navy to play the expected role so that at the end of the day our waterways will be very safe.

“We are appreciative and conscious of the fact that the waterways have a lot of potentials for our transportation industry by the way of cargo movement and even passengers movement. We are very conscious of that and it is our plan to make waterways the right choice of transportation’’, he said.

Earlier, the Superintendent of the Nigeria Naval Shipyard, Navy Commodore Bolaji Olederu, said that the task of the Yard is to carry out maintenance and construction of boats for the Navy and other larger maritime communities.