Boat mishaps: When will they end?

Nigeria must begin to confront boat mishaps as a national public-safety crisis. The latest tragedy at Gorau village in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, where 65 people reportedly died, is too grim a reminder of the price Nigerians pay for regulatory failure and government neglect. The tragedy is particularly disturbing because it was entirely predictable. More than 70 people were reportedly aboard the ill-fated boat, many of them farmers, labourers, women, and children travelling to their rice farms. Reports indicated that about 40 of the bodies recovered were children. This was no isolated occurrence. Sokoto recorded 92 deaths in five boat accidents between 2020 and 2024, including 24 people killed at Dundaye in August 2024.

Across Nigeria, at least 857 people died in boat accidents between January 2023 and October 2025, according to the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR). That translates to more than 26 deaths every month. The pattern is depressingly familiar: overloaded boats, poorly maintained vessels, inadequate or absent life jackets, untrained operators, night journeys, disregard for weather conditions, and weak enforcement. These are known risks that responsible regulation should prevent. Indeed, Nigeria already has the rules. The Inland Waterways Transportation Regulations 2023 provide a statutory framework for regulating navigation and safety, while the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) is responsible for registering boats and enforcing relevant standards. NIWA has also repeatedly declared life jackets mandatory and warned against overloading and night travel. The problem is enforcement. There is also a deeper infrastructure problem. For many rural Nigerians, waterways are not optional recreational routes but the…