The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, has said that there are untapped opportunities in the inland waterways in the Northern part of the country.
The NIMASA boss who disclosed this during an interaction with journalists at the wedding reception of his daughter in Kaduna, emphasised the need to develop the maritime sector in the Northern part of the country.
According to him, journalists need to explore research works with a view to disseminating information to the northern public on the importance of the blue economy, maritime safety and other sundry issues.
He expressed concern over the rising boat accidents in rivers across the Northern part of the country.
“Sincerely speaking, I want to make one observation, Nigeria is Nigeria regardless of where we come from. But what is disturbing me is the issue of maritime industry in Nigeria, it is lagging behind up North.
“I made an attempt to get a media man from North-West, North-East and from the North-Central, that can be reporting maritime media. I think we’ve reached an advanced stage, signing that agreement so that we can continue to disseminate information about maritime in the northern part of the country. That’s number one.
“Number two, the majority of the people do believe that since we don’t have a sea, we don’t have maritime, that’s not correct. If you go to Egypt, it is an artificial lake they use. You see this River Kaduna, it’s a river. If we dredge it, we would make better use of it. It is as good as sea.
“Whatever resources you can have in our sea, you can have it there. The maritime asset you can have in our sea, you have it here.
“So, I begin to wonder why all these years, we never try to look at the River Kaduna beyond what the River Kaduna should provide. We should be able to see that. So, the water transportation in the North, using the river Kaduna, can be utilised for the inhabitants that can use it around that area”, he said.