Sarat Braimah, the Lagos Area Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), has advised the Boat Owners and Transporters Association of Nigeria (WABOTAN) to embrace technology in all aspects of the water transportation economy.
According to her, there is a need to benchmark new growth processes using projects that will innovate and drive speedy advancement of the brown water economy.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to her office in Lagos, by the members of WABOTAN led by Tope Fajimirokun, its president, Braimah, said such will enable water transport to create new jobs and contribute to national GDP.
According to her, NIWA will encourage groups willing to partner with the government to move the industry forward.
Read also: NIWA inspects navigational buoys to ensure safety on waterways
She said that technology is the way to go in the global markets and Nigeria’s water transportation economy cannot lag behind.
She pleaded with the leadership of WABOTAN to do things differently by showcasing its membership profile and the location of its business to help NIWA to capture and deploy technical support towards ensuring the safety of waterway users.
Tope Fajimirokun, president of WABOTAN, said that the association with presence in all littoral communities and states is out to address certain challenges in the industry.
“We are clearly set to bring new ideas, assist the government in putting measures to empower and create more jobs, to use technology to operationalise water transportation business, train and retrain our members and effectively engage government towards improving the quality of service on our waterways,” he said.
Fajimirokun further added that the association will deploy research findings to complement the process of developing policy growth issues by the government and help to escalate private sector investment in the brown water economy.
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