…Bureau urges regulatory agencies to implement safety recommendations and embrace cross-sector collaboration.
As Nigeria’s transportation infrastructure expands rapidly across air, rail, sea, and road, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) is sounding a critical alarm: safety reforms must evolve just as swiftly.
With new regulatory frameworks targeting maritime and railway sectors, the Bureau is urging government agencies and industry stakeholders to treat safety recommendations not as suggestions but as mandates for saving lives.
In its latest strategic push, the NSIB is calling for stronger institutional commitment from sector-specific agencies to fully embrace and act on its safety investigation findings.
The Bureau, now operating under the expanded NSIB Act 2022, holds the statutory authority to investigate accidents not only in aviation but also across the marine, rail, and land transport sectors.
According to the Director General/CEO of NSIB, Capt. Alex Badeh Jnr., the Bureau’s work transcends the traditional role of incident reporting.
“Our goal is not just investigation. Every safety finding must contribute directly to building a more secure and efficient transport system,” he stated. “These regulations are not checkboxes; they are lifesaving frameworks relevant to Nigerians across all transport modes.”
To underpin this commitment, NSIB is finalising two critical regulatory documents:
The NSIB Casualty Investigation Regulations — tailored to maritime safety, aligning with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Casualty Investigation Code.
The Rail and Track Accident Investigation Regulations — designed with Nigeria’s rail operational environment in mind, drawing from international best practices.
Both documents represent a shift toward proactive, standardised, and multimodal safety governance.
According to the Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance at NSIB, Mrs. Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, these new regulations are the result of extensive field assessments conducted across jetties, ports, inland waterways, and rail corridors.
“We made deliberate efforts to understand real-world operations, so the regulations wouldn’t just be theoretical. They reflect both global standards and Nigerian realities,” she said.
While the NSIB provides detailed investigations and recommends safety measures, the actual implementation lies in the hands of agencies such as:
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
* Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
* National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)
- * Nigerian Shippers Council
* National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA)
* Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)
Capt. Badeh Jnr. emphasised that the true value of investigations lies in their implementation: “Safety recommendations are not just paperwork. They are blueprints for saving lives. This must be a collaborative mission.”
The Bureau’s new approach also encourages cross-sector learning, allowing safety findings in one mode like aviation to inform improvements in others.
Having already achieved full compliance with ICAO Annex 13 for air accident investigations, NSIB is adapting that same level of rigour to its multimodal mandate.
In the coming weeks, the Bureau is expected to formally present the finalised regulations to stakeholders and initiate public sensitisation campaigns to boost awareness and drive adoption.
As Nigeria continues to invest heavily in infrastructure, NSIB warns that without strong inter-agency collaboration, the gains could be compromised by avoidable incidents.
The Bureau is positioning itself not only as an independent investigator but also as a national adviser, shaping a future where transport safety is consistent, coordinated, and people-focused.
Through its unified transport safety framework, NSIB is laying the groundwork for a resilient and responsive transport system where every journey, by road, rail, sea, or air, is safer for every Nigerian.
