By: Thomas Ayebaberepelenyo Jonah
April 06 2023 will be a day that would ever remain indelible in the hearts of an average Okpoama man. It is a day that visited the Kingdom with horror, death, and anguish and, to a large extent, suspense.
The capsizing of a local boat from Yenagoa on route to Okpoama town around Okoroma in Nembe Local Government Area devastated many and the attendant unease it created was unquantifiable and inexplicable.
The news of the accident came to the Okpoama people as a hurricane fire and broke through the peace of the Kingdom both within and outside.
For a long while I saw the ceding of dissenting voices and unity and common purpose were restored. The love for the kingdom took preeminence over individual whims and caprices.
With a resounding unity, all sons and daughters of the Kingdom worked tirelessly towards achieving one end; bringing out the boat from the waters to know the corpses involved so as for them to be buried at home.
The incident was escalated by great sons of the Kingdom in the media to the extent that it drew the attention of the world and the Bayelsa State government in particular was directly involved in the search and rescue operations.
The chiefs and youths, especially the youth leader, of Okpoama Kingdom practically made the scene of the accident their second home to ensure the operations were properly executed and coordinated.
The daily feedback of the youth president kept both those at home and in the diaspora to be abreast with every development. This really helped in calming nerves and quelled the tension of suspense.
Although, the number of deaths could not be ascertained at the initial time. Only conjectures and assumptions were able to give contradicting figures that gave rise to high emotions.
Earlier recovered bodies were quickly taken to Okpoama for burial. Among such corpses were my nephew and a loved woman who took my mother as her mother and even stood by us in the time of my mother’s death and burial and even thereafter.
Her prayers for us were relentless and she never hesitated to be part of any program that concerned us. I could not forget in a hurry her prayers for us on the altar of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Okpoama during the little two-year remembrance we had in honour of our mother.
Nevertheless, it has become customary for people, especially in the African clime not to ask further questions after a tragedy. Rather we attribute it to an act of God and leave everything to Him.
This mindset has increasingly exacerbated our agony as humans and never abated the incidences of further recurrence of these somewhat avoidable tragedies. Understanding and dealing with the likely remote and immediate causes of an event would help to prevent it from becoming a recurring decimal.
This little piece aims at probing objectively into the possible remote and immediate causes of this mishap and proffer possible solutions that would act as guides to the local boat operators in particular and all maritime stakeholders within our locality.
Meanwhile, some of the likely remote causes identified to have led to the mishap may include; excessive profit motive, state and condition of the boat, the dilapidation of the boat, the quest to arrive early at destination, use of hard drugs and alcoholism by drivers, ignorance of or disobedience of maritime laws and guidelines.
Also, the likely immediate causes may include overloading, poor loading pattern, poor communication between management and operators, absent-mindedness, and poor knowledge of the terrain.
Excessive profit motive: Quoting the famous Adam Smith, “it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their self-interest.
We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities, but of their advantages”. The profit motive is a driving force of every businessman. Sometimes not the normal profit but an extreme and unrestrained desire to make an excess profit.
This quest for excess profit can make a businessman make certain decisions and take actions that would boomerang and lead to fatality and even business failure such as accidents and bankruptcy.
State and condition of the boat: the state and condition of a boat could result in accidents. When the last time repair work was carried out on the boat? How strong was the boat? Was the boat still sea-worthy before the accident and are there independent observers to observe the viability and strength of the boat?
Age of the boat: when was the boat built? How old was the boat? Is there any permissible life span for boats that ply the sea? Was the boat too old to be used? Was the age of the boat in sync with the kind of luggage loaded on it regularly?
The quest to arrive early at destination: One likely remote cause of accidents is over speeding propelled by the desire to arrive at destinations quickly. There is this implicit competition amongst boat operators that their boat moves faster than others.
These stated issues encourage them to indulge in over speeding despite the loads onboard the boats. This might have contributed to this accident.
Use of drugs and alcohol by drivers: The state of the drivers is another possible remote cause to look at. Were they driving under any external influence such as alcohol and other substances? Driving under the influence of alcohol is often dangerous and such could lead to boat accidents of this magnitude.
Not adhering to maritime guidelines and the lack of knowledge can be dangerous. Are there any maritime guidelines guiding the boat operators? If yes, how strictly are they adhering to these guidelines? Secondly, the lack of knowledge of these guidelines, if they exist, can as well lead to boat accidents
The likely immediate causes may include:
Overloading: Overloading in boats often leads to mishaps. When the weight of luggage onboard boats outweighs the strength and capacity of any boat, there is a likelihood of such boats sinking especially in the event of any eventuality. Overloading would have been a contributory factor that led to the ill-fated incident that greeted the boat.
Poor loading pattern: Goods are usually arranged properly in every boat to maintain the balance and stability of that boat. Any failure of boat operators to do that often leads to mishaps.
There are goods especially heavy goods that are loaded below the boat and placed at strategic places while some are arranged at the top. The essence is to ensure that the boat is properly positioned for the tide, waves and other eventualities.
Poor communication between management and operators: Poor communication between operators and management may have possibly led to the accident.
In a situation where the owners of the boat do not appropriately communicate the loading positions; the kind of things to be loaded, loading time and departure time as well as the number of goods to be loaded, boat incidents are bound to happen.
Absent-mindedness: The level of concentration of those operating the engines and the captain of the boat could as well affect the safety and smooth sailing of the boat. In a situation where a captain might be driving without full concentration on his operations, accidents could happen.
Use of alcohol: Drinking and driving is one danger to safety. Unfortunately, drivers and other maritime workers drink and such could be a contributing factor to the absence of safety in the sea.
Poor knowledge of terrain: Poor knowledge of the terrain could have contributed to this accident. It is common knowledge especially in our creeks that many who are not conversant with the terrain are always guided by bells and other signals.
This is a common practice amongst local boat operators. The absence of such guidance can result in accidents and mishaps.
Furthermore, the negligence and poor supervisory roles exercised by government and other maritime operators have kept these accidents unabated. These accidents always have grave consequences on the economic well-being of the people.
Accidents of this nature do not only destroy lives but also property worth millions and their negative rachet effect on the people psychologically, economically and otherwise cannot be overemphasized.
On this note, it is imperative for both the Government at both the Federal State Government, maritime Union and the operators to put in place necessary measures to curb these menaces.
Consequently, the government should as a matter of urgency introduce the concept of cruise ships (Government Boats) to ply these routes especially the Yenagoa – Brass Island route.
The government through the Ministry of Transport organize continuous training and retraining of local boat operators on safety standards and measures.
The government also through the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning organize entrepreneurial programs for the boat operators to boost their business skills. In addition, there is also the need for proper monitoring of the activities of these operators by the government.
