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Nigeria’s grim road accident
statistics
By Sun News Publishing
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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The Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC),
Mr. Osita Chidoka, recently released grim statistics which indicated
that 4,800 people die in road accidents in Nigeria every year.
The FRSC boss, who spoke at a programme to mark the United Nations
World Day for remembrance of road accident victims, identified disregard
for traffic rules as one of the major causes of road accidents in
the country.
Other factors that have been identified by the FRSC in its ongoing
nationwide road safety enlightenment campaign are impatience of
drivers, over-speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol,
driving against traffic, overloading, poor maintenance of vehicles
and the use of bad tyres.
A worried President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has expressed grave
concern about the loss of so many lives in road accidents. Speaking
through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),
Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, at a road safety campaign in Abuja, the president
called for a joint strategy by the police and the FRSC to reduce
road accidents in the country.
President Yar’Adua’s concern about our dismal road casualty
figures is well placed. It is unacceptable that so many lives should
be wasted unnecessarily on account of avoidable accidents on our
roads. The figure, which may not even reflect the total human loss
to accidents in the country, is too high for comfort. Nigeria should
not continue to lose as many as 400 lives to road accidents every
month.
We commend the FRSC for its timely campaign for safety on our roads.
Coming just before the Christmas and New Year festivities during
which many Nigerians do a lot of travelling, the campaign could
not have come at a better period.
It is gratifying to note that the Commission has also embarked
on a number of other initiatives to reduce accidents. These include
the engagement of road transport unions, the release of a Revised
Highway Code, which it has promised to make widely available and
will be posted on the Internet. The Highway Code is said to have
taken into consideration Nigeria’s cultural and environmental
peculiarities, is self-instructional and will be translated into
the four major Nigerian languages.
One major cause of road accidents that both the government and the
FRSC appear not to be taking due cognizance of, however, is the
bad state of Nigerian roads, which contributes to the spate of accidents.
Last year, the FRSC came up with a list of bad portions of major
roads to guide road users during the festive period. We expect the
Commission to do the same thing early enough this year with the
expectation that the concerned government agencies will move to
repair dangerous spots.
We urge the FRSC to increase the tempo, scope and speed of its activities
to ensure that its message of safe driving gets to every nook and
cranny of the country at this auspicious time. The agency should
ensure that all road traffic regulations are strictly enforced and
that speed and passenger capacity limits are not violated.
Vehicles that are not road-worthy should be kept off the roads and
mobile courts established to summarily deal with offenders. Every
technical gadget that could help to identify and intercept violators
of road traffic regulations should be provided for FRSC Marshals.
Drivers of articulated trucks who are ever so aggressive and constitute
a danger to other road users should be under strict surveillance
and control.
A transportation technology professional should be appointed to
head the Transport Ministry and charged with the responsibility
of not only rehabilitating the roads but also developing the water
and rail sectors to reduce the pressure on the roads.
Above all, we advise Nigerians to abide by the rules of safe driving
to reduce the human and material losses to road accidents.
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