Only 3,000 kilometres of waterways navigable in Nigeria

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The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, has disclosed that out of the 10,000 kilometres of waterways in the country, only 3,000 kilometres are navigable.

The Minister said this on Tuesday while commissioning the right legacy projects developed by the management of the National Inland Waterways, (NIWA) headquarters in Lokoja, Kogi State.

Among the projects commissioned are the Administrative block, security post, 62 Passenger boats, Ambulance and hydrographic survey boat.

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He also called on NIWA to implement the Marine code to enhance and improve security along waterways, stressing that the NIWA Act will be out anytime from now.

According to him, the NIWA Act waiting to be passed would soon become a reality, adding that the Marine code would be useful in tackling the security challenges pending the time the bill would be passed.

He noted that the Marine code would come in handy in addressing the underutilisation of the enormous potential in the sector.

“I want to call on the management of this all-important sector to start the immediate implementation of the newly developed marine code in order to address all the security challenges along the nation’s waterways,” he said.

The Minister also called on the private sector to consider exploring the potential business opportunities available in the nation’s waterways in line with the vision of President Tinubu which placed so much emphasis on the blue economy.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways (NIWA), Bola Oyebamiji, called on fellow staff and management of the organization to always come up with ideas that would help to catapult NIWA to achieve its economic potential in live with the vision of Mr President.

“My doors are always open, to welcome ideas and suggestions that would help in assisting NIWA to realise the vision of Mr President who believes that there are enormous economic potentials in the Marine sector.”