Oyetola blames wooden boats as accidents claim 92 lives

Adegboyega Oyetola, Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy

Wooden Boats, Watery Graves: Oyetola Sounds Alarm Over Nigeria’s Deadly Waterways

In a grim reckoning with Nigeria’s inland waterway tragedies, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has issued a stark warning: the continued use of wooden boats is costing lives. Between January and August 2025, at least 92 passengers perished in a series of devastating boat accidents across the country, despite federal efforts to improve safety standards.

From the rivers of Kwara to the creeks of Sokoto and the floodplains of Zamfara, the pattern is tragically familiar, overloaded wooden vessels capsizing in turbulent waters, often with no life jackets and little regard for safety protocols. In one harrowing incident in May, a storm overturned a market-bound boat on the Niger River, killing 27 passengers. In August, two separate accidents in Sokoto claimed dozens more, with many still missing days after the mishaps.

Oyetola, visibly shaken by the recurring loss of life, has called on state governments to phase out wooden boats entirely. He described them as structurally obsolete and dangerously unfit for modern commercial operations. “Wooden boats have served their time, but they cannot be the future of water transport in Nigeria,” he declared, urging a nationwide shift to fibre and aluminium vessels that meet global safety standards.

The minister’s appeal comes on the heels of several interventions by the federal government, including the distribution of thousands of life jackets to riverine communities. But Oyetola insists that life jackets alone are not enough. Without safe vessels, the risk remains high. He emphasized that wooden boats, often handmade and poorly maintained, cannot withstand the demands of today’s passenger and cargo loads, especially under conditions of overloading and negligence.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has echoed these concerns, attributing many of the accidents to safety violations and lack of regulation. In Sokoto’s Jaranja River, for instance, a recent mishap claimed two lives and left nine survivors traumatized. NIWA officials cited overloading and disregard for safety rules as the primary causes.

Oyetola’s message is clear and urgent: Nigeria must chart a new course. The era of wooden boats, once symbols of local ingenuity and resilience, must give way to a safer, more sustainable future. Until then, the nation’s waterways will remain perilous paths, where tradition collides with tragedy, and where reform can no longer wait.