The call by the Area Manager, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Lagos Area, Mr. Muazu Sambo for the agency’s headquarters to be relocated back to Lagos from its present location in Lokoja, Kogi State has received its backing from the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS).
In an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos, the President of SALS, Rev. Jonathan Nicol observed that NIWA has no business being in Lokoja arguing that even though Lokoja could boast of having streams, one cannot compare it to where you have the oceans even as he called for its relocation back to Lagos.
“If I have my way, I will ask the Nigeria Customs Service to relocate to Lagos. They don’t have any business being in Abuja just as all of us said, what is NPA (Nigerian Ports Authority) doing in Abuja and what really is the Nigeria Customs doing in Abuja? Do you know how much we spend going to Abuja?”
“So, every aspect of the maritime industry that has business to do with the waterways should be resident in Lagos. That is what nature wants us to do, if we carry them to Abuja, if we have problems now, we carry them to Lokoja, do you know how much it will cost?”, he queried.
He recalled that the NIWA headquarters used to be in Lagos before it was relocated to Lokoja adding that now that it was asked to go to Lokoja, it was another misplacement of priority.
