SANWO-OLU ENGAGES MORE WATER GUARDS TO MINIMIZE BOAT ACCIDENTS IN LAGOS
Bisi Akingbade.
As part of efforts to promote water transportation in Lagos State and minimize accidents on the waterways, the Governor of the state, Babajide Olusola Sanwo- Olu, has employed more water guards who are positioned at all the jetties.
The General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, Mr. Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, made this known while speaking with naijaonlinenews reporter at the just concluded 2025 Mid-Year Outreach Program and 40 years Anniversary of Lagos State Public Service Christian Fellowship (Interdenominational), Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
Mr. Emmanuel emphasized that LASWA has taken other steps to ensure safety on the waterways as it introduced biannual inspections of boats, which give room for detection of defective boats which must be fixed before putting it on the water to carry passengers.
"Well, LASWA is doing a lot and that is the reason why we have reduced accidents on our waterways. One of the first thing Mr. Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu did was to employ more water guards who are positioned at the jetties to ensure that people adhere to safety rules and regulations.
"Secondly, we introduced what we call biannual inspection of these boats themselves, where we inspect them and make sure that whatever it is that is wrong with their boats, they go and fix it before they come back onto the water.
"And of course, it's a carrot and a stick approach, wherever anybody is found culpable, we ensure that they face the full right of the law," Mr. Emmanuel noted.
He stressed that LASWA now deploys technology to ensure that it can respond much quicker to distress calls with real-time and physical infrastructure for responding to emergency and rescue.
Mr. Emmanuel who was also the Chairman, Mid Year Outreach Committee explained that there is a growth in the population of users of waterways as more people now make use of water transportation.
"Well, I mean, the current percentage is quite low, but compared to what it was, we have seen it grow from about 2% to now about 5% of mobile population who use public transportation from 2% has gotten to about 5% now", he stated.
Speaking on the impact of the outreach on the life of public servants, the LASWA General Manager maintained that prayer works and that God is still in the business of answering prayers, saying that they prayed not only for themselves but for the entire public servants in the state. He added that like what was spoken by the guest minister, this is a transition not just for the fellowship but even for the state as the state is transitioning into greater glory.
"We believe that whatever happens goes to the church, so goes to the nation. So if indeed we are being positioned for transition then you can be assured that the state and the nation even under the President is surely on its way to greater heights," he concluded.
The highlight of the anniversary
was the presentation of awards to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the First Lady, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, his wife, Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat, Mr. Oluwadamilola Emmanuel and Mrs. Titlola Vivour-Adeniyi for their exemplary leadership and dedicated support to the fellowship.
Guests at the programme include Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, ably represented by the Special Adviser to Governor on Christian Religion, Very Rev Bukola Adeleke, Deputy Governor represented by Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Daba Mobolaji, and Mr. Olabode Agoro, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mrs. Ololade Aina.
The theme of this year's anniversary is "The Glory of the Latter Shall Exceed the Former, Haggai 2:9.
