Rate, compliance and choice of life-saving equipment among commercial boat users and operators in southern Nigeria

One of the contributing factors to various water-related accidents along the Nigerian inland waterways is the inadequate or lack of compliance to various safety measures for water related activities including the use of life-saving equipment (LSE). This study appraised the rate, compliance and choice of LSE among commercial boat users and operators in Southern Nigeria. The study adopted the use of questionnaire in data gathering among commercial boat operators and users (commuters) from various jetties (12) which cut-across six (6) Southern States in Nigeria, where commercial boating activities is most predominant. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential (Pearson product momentum correlation) statistics. The findings revealed that the use of LSE is always (41.9%-boat operators and 63.4%- boat users) and compulsory (85.5%- boat operators and 93.5% - boat users. The outcome indicates that there was no selection choice of LSE (58.1%-boat operators and 64.1%- boat users). There was no statistically significant difference the choices of LSE and usage among commercial boat operators (where p > 0.05, p = 0.252) and users (where p > 0.05, p = 0.738) across the study area. The study concluded that the rate of the LSE usage is high, and compliance is compulsory across the studied jetties; hence, there is need for continuous enforcement practice to ensure increased compliance.