The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) is set to reconstruct a new jetty at its Lagos Area Command even as a Police Building is also been constructed for the agency in the state.
NIWA also revealed that its Lagos office alone generated the sum of one billion in revenue remitted into the federation account in 2022.
Addressing Maritime journalist after an on-the-spot inspection tour of NIWA’s Lagos office facilities, the Chairman of the NIWA Governing Board, Senator Binta Masi-Garba said that the Lagos Office of the agency is due for a facelift of facilities and amenities.
The board promised to look into the working conditions of staff of the authority in the Lagos office as a way to say thank you for the achievement.
Senator Masi-Garba said: “In our meeting with the workers, they told us about the many challenges that they would like us to help them fix. Even the office that we sat in is becoming too small for them. If we want to continue to get the best from these workers, we need to attend to their needs.
“They raised issues around more operational vehicles, patrol boats, provision of Skip-Way for vessel repair, generators amongst other things. The joy that I have is that NIWA is now autonomous. They can now raise revenue to take care of themselves and also give a fraction into the federal government coffers.
“Whatever they need, they should prioritise their needs and the MD will look into them. From N600 million revenue, they have exceeded the N1 billion mark in Lagos. We are now trying to see whether we can go into the N2 billion range”
Also speaking during the tour, the NIWA CEO/MD, Dr. George Moghalu explained that the agency will grow stronger after its departure from the federal government Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS).
“If we want to starve, then we will starve. If we want to get our salaries, then we’ll work harder to get our salaries. I think we have taken a strong position and before we took that position, we agreed amongst ourselves, management and staff that this is the time to move forward,” Moghalu stated.
Moghalu also noted that there are areas in Lagos that NIWA is looking forward to boost it’s presence by constructing more infrastructures and jetties.
He explained that the agency has entered into Public Private Partnership (PPP) with some companies who would invest in the waterways and open it up by injecting facilities and purchasing more boats.
“We believe that the maritime sector has great potential to expand the Nigerian economy. So we have open contacts with companies on PPP arrangement to open up the waterways, unless we do this, we cannot maximize the profitability of the sector,” Moghalu said.
Earlier, Senator Binta said that the agency is now autonomous having exited the Federal Government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This according to her means the agency is able to generate revenue to care of its staffing needs.
Having listened to the myriad of challenges at the Lagos Area Office, the NIWA Board Chairman advised the agency’s management to prioritize the needs of Lagos as part of efforts to encourage the commendable output at the Area Office.
“Lagos Area Office is becoming too small, and motivation is key to any staff if you want to get the best from them. I align myself with the needs of the workers, without the funding and the vehicles, there is no way they can move around to get more IGR”
“The joy that I have is that they (NIWA) are now autonomous, they can create things for themselves, they are now an agency generating revenue to take care of their wellbeing and give back some fraction of it to the federal government,” the Board Chairman said.
In her welcome address, the Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Engr Sarat Braimah, said that despite being located in the centre of business in Lagos, the Area Office is due for a remodel.
Braimah commended the Board Chairman and the Managing Director, Dr George Moghalu for the increase in staff salaries which reflected in the February 2023 salaries.
“The Lagos Office of NIWA is due for a remodel. Also, our generator is over 20 years old and due for a change. We also need more security to man our jetties.
“We also need more operational vehicles because naturally, people don’t want to pay tax. You have to chase them around to ensure they pay. So, we need more operational vehicles to do this.”
“We also need a Slip-Way. We currently don’t have any in Lagos, and that’s why most of our marine boats are not getting adequate repairs. The Slipway we are currently using is owned by a client, but we need our own Slip-Way.
“We also need to establish our presence in Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and Agbara. We currently don’t have jetties in this places. We only have in Marina, Tin-Can, Apapa and Maroko. That is all that we have. We need more jetties in areas where we currently lack presence,” she lamented.
Braimah equally appreciated the board and management for the Public-Private Arrangement for the agency’s property at Oyingbo, which was concessioned to Morbod, adding that it has given NIWA publicity and a good name.