We must replicate aviation safety on waterways, others – NSIB DG

The Director General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Capt. Alex Badeh Jnr., at the weekend called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to make the safety foundation of all modes of transportation in Nigeria.

He spoke in Lagos during the maiden Transport Summit organised by the Transportation Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) with the theme, “Intermodal Transport: Prospects and Challenges.”

The DG also decried the lack of cooperation from some transportation and maritime-related agencies of government, stating that many treat safety issues as a secret.

Badeh who was one of the discussants at the forum stated that safety is paramount in all the means of transportation.

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Daily Trust reports that the NSIB formerly the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) was recently empowered to investigate accidents in all modes of transportation fashioned after the United States – National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The DG however stressed the need for collaboration among agencies of government to replicate the safety in the aviation sector on other transportation modes.

He said aviation is the second most regulated industry in the world with safety as the number one priority.

He however lamented that the same strict regulation is not being seen on other modes of transportation.

He said, “Aviation industry is the second most regulated industry in the world after medicine. We talk about regulations all over the world. The more loss of lives, the more heavy regulations you see in the industry.

“And then we find that, here, aside from aviation, everyone treats safety as a secret. You approach the other agencies but they tell you, we are not aviation, why should we collaborate with you?

“As far as we are concerned in NSIB, we want full cooperation of other agencies. NSIB is ready and Nigeria is ready. Accident prevention is not just the responsibility of us the accident investigators or the regulators. It is the responsibility of the public. Let us work together to make the safety foundation of our transportation in Nigeria.”

A former Commissioner for Transport in Lagos, Dr Kayode Opeifa, stated that with the birth of NSIB as a multimodal investigation agency, other agencies cannot investigate themselves.

Opeifa, who is the Executive Director of the Centre of Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenMAD), said it is wrong to come up with the cause of any accident without proper investigation.

Speaking on behalf of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Head of Business Development, Lagos Area Office, Mr Michael Ogunsola, stated that the authority had done a lot to curb incessant accidents on the waterways.

He stated that there is still the impression that NSIB is about aviation and promised the readiness of the authority to partner with the bureau to deepen safety on the waterways.