By Tope Musowo Lagos
Lagos state government yesterday gave a seven-day ultimatum to boat operators, dredgers and stakeholders in the inland waterways sector to comply with laws, rules and guidelines concerning their operations or face stiff sanctions. Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the state government said it was ready to enforce regulation of waterfront infrastructure development and all connected purposes, and urged boat and dredging operators to cooperate with it to sanitise the sector. Th e government had stated last week that a Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal had handed over to it power to control the inland waterways within the state, but the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) described the claim as “untrue.”
According to the NIWA, the appellate court only gave the government power to legislate on intra-state waterways, which are waterways that originate and end within the state. However, yesterday, the AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, said the state government was pleased with the “clear” judgement which he described as unambiguous and a victory for resource control and fi scal federalism. Th e press conference was jointly addressed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde; Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Ade Akinsanya; Managing Director of Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Abisola Kamson; and the Chief Executive Offi cer of Lagos State Ferry Services, Paul Kalejaye. Kazeem said there had been varied attempts by those who lost out, especially the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), to whittle down the eff ect of the appellate court judgement.
Reacting to claims by NIWA that the judgement did not favour the state government, Kazeem said the quest by the federal agency to keep on controlling the resources of the state from Abuja despite the judgment was totally absurd and cannot stand when viewed from moral, legal and economic grounds. He said the same NIWA that claimed on the one hand that the judgment did not favour the state government, had also indicated interest to appeal, and queried the intention of the agency in seeking to take the resources of the state. “Looking at the import of these laws which you can fi nd in the constitution is that the federal government controls maritime and international navigation which is to clear the high seas for international carriers to be able to move freely
