Experts challenge Nigeria on maximising maritime potential

Lanre Rasak

In order to massively reduce the cost of road maintenance across Nigeria, experts have advised the country’s federal government to begin to tap into the inestimable maritime potential it is endowed with.

They called for the establishment of maritime college that will see to the issues of safety and the creation of enabling environment for investors in water transportation.

Chief Lanre Rasak, a construction expert, who made the call in an interview maintained that the college, if established in a state like Lagos, would in no small measure enhance the capacity of boat operators and other service providers in the maritime sector.

According to him, although government’s efforts in Lagos were commendable, more still needed to be done to deepen the people’s confidence in the area of water transportation.

“We need to take the issue of safety with utmost concern in the maritime sub-sector; we should deliberately encourage the establishment of a maritime college in Lagos so that those in charge of ferries plying Ijede to Lagos Island and Ikorodu to Lagos Island will be well trained, this will show that we take lives very seriously, this is one area where we have lost lives and property in the last one year and it should be a thing of concern to every
well-meaning Nigerian,” he stressed.

In the same vein, a maritime expert, Mr Ibrahim Agoro said the vast waterways in Nigeria had not been adequately harnessed, especially in the area of water transportation and security.

Agoro who hinted that the maritime sector remained the driver for other industries, added that failure to explore the country’s aquatic endowment would continue to directly and indirectly put pressure on the road infrastructure.

“The international community is looking up to us within the African region to be the pace-setter in the maritime industry, when it comes to maritime safety as well; Nigeria is expected to blaze the trail in the West African sub-region, this is not a trial and error industry, we just have to get it right, the oil and gas depends largely on the maritime, the oil and gas sector does not exist without the maritime sector because after you have got the crude, you must transport it, will it be transported by air, no, it has to be by the sea, same goes
for heavy machineries that are majorly imported, they all come in by sea,”he stated.