MR. ISREAL WARIBO PEPPLE AND MR UCHENNA OKARANWOLU OF CORONATION LIFE ASSURANCE, IN A DISCUSSION WITH CHIEF ALLWELL EGWURUNGWU ( REP MULTIJANC CONCEPTS)
Passengers of the waterways in Rivers State have a new lease of life as the leadership and members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria(MWUN),with Francis Bunu Abbey as President General,have launched a ‘Passengers Liability Assurance Scheme ‘ to ensure that the risks of traveling by the sea routes are minimized.
In his address at the flagging-off of the Scheme on Tuesday,June 10,2025 at the Bonny/Bille/Nembe Waterfront in Port Harcourt,the chairman of the Port Harcourt Commercial District of the Union,Comrade Israel Waribo People said the Scheme was designed to accommodate scenes of losses to passengers in case of accidents and the unforeseen along the waterways, noting that “this is to assure passengers that their safety and comfort is greatly important to the Union(drivers) and thus help to build confidence in them to continue to use our services)”.
Comrade People acknowledged the continued threats of sea-piracy, kidnapping and outright armed attacks on the seaways,but assured that,from very recent experiences,the security agencies concerned had been working hard to flush away sea pirates and hoodlums from the area to ensure that use of the waterways for both travels and livelihood is safe.
The MWUN boss gave thumbs-up to the Marine Police, Nigeria Navy, Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Joint Military Task Forces(JTF) for all their combined efforts to ensure safety of passengers and other seafarers.
The Branch President of MWUN in Rivers State,who also represented the President-General,described the Scheme as a landmark development that would boost confidence in users of the waterways.
Speaking about the actual scheme,which became manifest in partnership with Multijanc Concepts Limited,as Consultants,Mr.Uchenna Okaranwolu,Head of Bancassurance of Coronation Life Assurance Limited,said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed would guarantee safety of passengers on the waterways.
Mr.Okaranwolu,who represented Adebowale Adesona,Managing Director/CEO of Coronation Life Assurance Limited, credited Rivers State for “pioneering an initiative in the Maritime sector that will later run through all the littoral states of Nigeria” and that “this scheme is to ensure the safety and well-being of our drivers, passengers and all other users of our waterways”.
According to him(Uchenna),”this initiative will have passengers contribute a little premium of #100.00 to finance the policy each time to travel by sea,but they will benefit greatly in case of any mishaps or accidents, wherein for deaths and permanent disabilities,the policy operators would receive #500,000.00 each,while #50,000.00 would be for those injured(medical expenses). Uchenna Okaranwolu also informed that the financial institution backing the Coronation Life Assurance Limited is solid and that all users of the policy should be assured that,no matter the level of claims,they would be paid,as approved after due investigation.
On their part,Mr.Sunday Nyenwe of National Inland Waterways Authority and Sir Engr.Dagogo Inimgba, representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport,Rivers State, expressed the hope that the scheme would be sustainable and not a flash in the pan.
Engr.Inimgba urged all stakeholders: passengers, drivers,Union members, security agencies,NIWA and other stakeholders involved to observe the required terms for the effective implementation and possibly institutionalize the scheme in the affairs of riverine transportation.He said the State Ministry of Transport received the news of the scheme with great joy because of the incidences associated with water transformation and so would support same as might be required.
The Nigeria Navy, Marine Police,Bonny Indigenous Transport Association were there as well.