The new Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mustapha Boss, has resumed duty with a pledge to restore the organisation to the path of profitability.
Boss, who made the pledge on Monday at the NIWA headquarters in Lokoja while taking over from the acting Managing Director, Danladi Ibrahim, last week, said he would initiate a reform to enable the organisation achieve its core mandate.
He also promised to block leakages and cause the process of enforcement of laws guiding the usage of the nation’ s inland waterways to enhance NIWA ‘s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The new managing director said the development of the inland waterways was very dear to President Muhammadu Buhari and promised to do everything to enhance the development of the country’s over 10,000 kilometres inland waterways for the socio-economic prosperity of the people.
While calling for hard work and commitment to duty from the management and staff of NIWA, Boss also promised to operate an open door policy to make way for collective efforts by stakeholders “to put the organisation in an enviable position, we will not fail President Muhammadu Buhari; we will not fail the people of Nigeria.”
Earlier, the former acting managing director, who gave a brief history of the organisation, listed major challenges facing it to include the lack of funds to execute capital projects and low IGR.
He also listed inadequate staffing and the lack of power to enforce provisions in the Act establishing NIWA as other challenges facing the organisation, explaining that the way out was to amend the Act establishing the organisation.
Ibrahim, however, said that NIWA has within its almost 20 years of establishment, been able to undertake the dredging of the lower part of the River Niger and has carried out maintenance of the dredged areas for two years.
He said that the agency has procured water hyacinth equipment, gun boats and 18 ferries which were concessioned to private operators.
