Salim Umar Ibrahim & Sadiq Adamu (Kano)
Seven months after the Bagwai boat accident which left over 40 people dead, fishermen and boat owners are ruing the unfulfilled government promises to the two villages of Badau and Bagwai, separated by water, which has affected their business and livelihood.
Daily Trust Saturday had reported that a boat, with 49 persons onboard, capsized while conveying passengers, mostly pupils of Madinatu Islamiyya School from Badau village to Bagwai. Forty two persons died while seven were rescued.
The pupils were heading to Bagwai to participate in Maulud celebration when the accident happened. And since the incident on November 30 last year, the lifestyles of residents of the two villages have changed, albeit, for worse.
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Before the tragic incident, residents shuttle freely across the water between the two villages which was halted shortly after the accident following a decision of the state government to curtail future occurrences.
The state government had thereafter promised to provide two buses to help with the shuttling of passengers between the two villages while it promised to investigate the boat mishap.
The government also promised to provide three speed/ferry boats and life jackets for passengers. The state’s deputy governor, Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, made the promise while commissioning an 18-passenger capacity ferry boat donated by the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to the villagers.
But, since the incident and the promises that followed, residents told Daily Trust Saturday that they were yet to see even one speed boat from the state government, and even the buses provided have been withdrawn. This is even as many of the boat owners and fishermen who lost their boats and canoes during the rescue operations said they were yet to be compensated and were now living from hand to mouth.
“Honestly, things are no longer favourable here. We have over 20 fishermen from Bagwai looking for their daily bread here and about 50 in Badau. We all depend on this water. These days, one hardly makes between N600 and N1000 daily. The only person that got the highest catch today (Wednesday) got N3000,” lamented one of the fishermen, Mika’il Bala.
He added that the tough time they are experiencing cannot be under estimated as they are all breadwinners whose families look up to them for survival. This, he said, is because most of them lack the boats that can go to the deeper part of the water where they can catch bigger fishes.
Residents told Daily Trust Saturday that they were finding it difficult to shuttle between Bagwai and Badau and other villages because the government is yet to fulfill its promise and even the buses earlier provided have been withdrawn, leaving the villagers with only the 18-seater ferry boat donated by NIWA.
Sa’idu Audu, a resident of Badau Village and driver of the ferry, told Daily Trust Saturday that the boat was handed over to him three months ago and since then, he has been using it to shuttle between Badau and Bagwai.
He said, “It is compulsory for every person to wear a life jacket onboard this boat. It is an 18-seater boat, and for safety reasons, we don’t add any passenger beyond the 18. This is because we want to curtail unnecessary stories and to work in line with prescribed ethics. We charge N100 per passenger for a one-way trip,” he said.
Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the inability of the single ferry to meet transportation demands and sad memories of the tragic event have kept most people away from using the transport medium.
“Honestly, people have not fully recovered from that incident and because of the long break; as you are aware, the boat came about three months ago, they are not yet patronizing it as they were doing before,” the driver said.
On the challenges faced by residents, passengers lamented the non existence of additional boats to ease their burden.
A resident, Auwalu Tukur, said apart from being a threat to them, they were not using it for anything.
“As you can see, we are supposed to be using the boats for other things rather than fishing which is equally declining by the day. We are supposed to take advantage of the water at least to grow rice, but whenever we try to do so, the water washes away our crops.”
On the issue of the two buses that were withdrawn, the Managing Director, Kano State Transport Authority, Bashir Nasiru Aliko, could not be reached.
However, a director who pleaded anonymity said the vehicles were withdrawn for the purpose of repair and maintenance and will soon be sent back to continue operations.
“They came for repairs and routine maintenance. They were not withdrawn and once they are fit, they will be back.”
Attempts to get reaction of the state’s Ministry of Water Resources and that of Transport on why the promised speed boats have not been delivered were not successful as at press time.
