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The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the Dolphin Swim School, have partnered to train 200 school pupils on waterways safety, swimming skills in four years.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi, made this known at the swimming training for public schools in Somolu/Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Friday in Lagos.
The swimming training is one of LASWA’s advocacy programmes tagged, “The Lagos Water Savvy Kids Programme.”
Osiyemi said that the initiative, which was in its 4th edition, had been in stages with 50 pupils being trained annually.
He said the training was to boost patronage of waterways transportation, tackle water transport phobia and reduce road congestion.
He added that the programme would promote safe swimming and clear the phobia for water transportation in the state.
Osiyemi said that taking the programme, to Shomolu/Bariga area was a tough decision as their schools do not connect to water for daily transportation.
He, however, added that beyond that, children are the best people to communicate whatever message they are trying to pass to their parents as regards using waterways.
“It goes a long way if the children can pass the message of confidence to their parents and break the phobia and fear of water transportation.
“Our waterways is very important to us for transportation. We all know what is going on, on land as regards the congestion on our roads.
“The governor is particular about transportation because moving people and goods from Point A to B is something we have to be intentional about in Lagos, bearing in mind that we have a very small state in size, but with over 22 million people residing in Lagos,” he said.
The commissioner said that government was creating other options to move people around, which was why it introduced the multi-modal transportation – road, rail and water, in Lagos.
“With all of that, there must be some level of integration, but first we must be able to have confidence in our waterways.
“We have done many initiatives in the last couple of months; we have new ferries of international standards that you can be rest assured that when you get in them, not only will you be comfortable from Point A to B but also assured that there is safety,” he said.
He urged the pupils not to throw away whatever they had been taught in the programme but rather to tell their parents to improve on their skills in order not to get rusty.
Osiyemi further assured that the programme would continue across the state, adding that the results of the four editions so far supported the fact that government should increase the number from the current 50.
Earlier, the General Manager of LASWA, Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, noted that the programme was to promote swimming culture, and to get more people attuned to the fact that Lagos was surrounded by water.
“This is the fourth edition of the Water Savvy Kids Programme, which is our contribution to ensuring that we get Lagos residents more acquainted with waterways transportation, cleanliness and also sustainability of the waterways system in Lagos State.
“The programme holds once a year, and this year we have 50 pupils from schools in Somolu and Bariga. And the selection was done by SUBEB through a random selection.
“It must be primary school because we want to start from when they are young, right from the bottom, as part of the pyramid in the educational system,” he said.
Also, Manager/Head of Dolphin Swim School, Sopuluchukwu Onuegbu, disclosed that the school had so far trained 200 children since partnering LASWA in the past four years on water safety skills and survival around the water.
“Together, we are creating a safer water environment and future for these children, helping them to build their water confidence, and we hope that this continues,” she said.
Similarly, the Director of Bloomgrey Recreation, which owned the swimming pool, Mrs Azukaego Ekpe, said that for them and the children since the whole week, it was a dream come true increasing water education around the environment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the event was exhibition of skills by the pupils and the presentation of certificates by the commissioner to the pupils.
