By Dickson Omobola

Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, has lamented that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and Nigerian Railway Commission, NRC, are defaulting on remitting certain percentages of their revenue to NSIB.

Director General of NSIB Captain Alex Badeh JR., stated that it was impacting on the agency’s ability to conduct comprehensive multimodal accident investigations.

Badeh, who spoke in Lagos at the opening of NSIB Lagos office, said it was not in accordance with the NSIB Establishment Act of 2022, which stated that NIMASA should remit three per cent of the three per cent gross freight from international cargo, while the NRC was required to contribute five per cent of ticket sales and cargo charges.

According to him, the financial shortfall was limiting NSIB’s operational capabilities, hindering its growth and effectiveness in safeguarding Nigerian lives.

He said: “Today, we mark a significant milestone as we gather to re-open the NSIB Lagos office. This occasion is especially momentous after a challenging three-year period during which our operational capacity in Lagos was severely impacted. The unfortunate demolition of our previous office under the past administration left us without a physical presence in this critical location, hindering our ability to serve the transportation sector effectively.

“During this hiatus, our dedicated team members were left without the means to carry out their vital work, resulting in a struggle for productivity and a gap in our service delivery.  When I was appointed Director General of the NSIB in December 2023, I was met with many unfinished tasks at the Bureau.

“Employee morale was low, and there were teeming requests and competing demands. As a non-revenue-generating agency, we have grappled with limited government funding and bureaucratic inefficiencies.”

Speaking, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, who commissioned the project, said when he came into office, he was sad to learn that NSIB office in Lagos was demolished for no reason.

Keyamo said: “I was quite sad when I came into office and discovered that a whole functional complex that the NSIB had in Lagos was demolished for no reason.”