Indigenes of Lokoja, in Kogi State have accused the management of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) of marginalizing them in employment and local opportunities.
The group also alleging that the agency’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, has abandoned the organisation’s headquarters in Lokoja to operate from Abuja.
According to Alh Abdullahi Yusuf, a resident and spokesperson of the community said, despite NIWA’s national headquarters being located in Lokoja, most administrative decisions and official files are reportedly treated from Abuja. They further alleged that Mr. Oyebamiji visits the Lokoja office only once every two months.
The indigenes also accused the NIWA boss of prioritizing his political ambition in Osun State over his official responsibilities.
They claimed he still maintains his position and influence as a Personal Assistant to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, while preparing to contest the forthcoming Osun governorship election.
“Lokoja hosts NIWA’s headquarters, but our people are not employed here,” one of the aggrieved residents said. “The MD/CEO hardly stays in Lokoja; he prefers to run the agency from Abuja while focusing on his political ambition in Osun State. He only comes around once in two months, and when he does, it’s just briefly.”
The community members called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Steve Sunday Karimi, and the member representing Lokoja/Kogi Federal Constituency, Hon. Danladi Sulaiman Aguye, to intervene immediately by ensuring that NIWA fully resumes operations in Lokoja and employs qualified indigenes of the area in line with federal character and equity principles.
All efforts to reach the management of NIWA as at the time of going to press proved abortive, as the Cooperate Affairs Manager of the Organization, Makama Suleiman, neither picked his calls or reply to messages sent to him.