Paschal Emeka, Abuja | Posted May 22, 2024
A Road Safety focused organization, Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative (APRI) has urged Federal and State Govenments to as a matter of urgency improve road traffic safety on both Federal and States’ Roads in the country.
The organization, represented by its Executive Director, Ambassador Fidelis Nnadi who spoke to our Correspondent lamented that the rate of road crashes, along with its unbearable casualties of deaths, injuries and loss of property of road users is unprecedented.
According to Amb. Nnadi, the road crash index of Nigeria has moved higher in percentage than what it was some years back, revealing that governments at all levels have never prioritised road traffic safety as an emergency and a national disaster.
“The Federal and State Governments, established agencies that enforces their respective road traffic regulations, but has continously denied the agency and its officers the rightful equipment and materials required to perform their duties optimally to ensure safety of road users,” Nnadi lamented.
Speaking further, he noted that a visit to the State offices of Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), that are responsible for Road Traffic safety on States’ roads suffer massive neglect, with clear evidence of poor funding, coupled with lack of operational vehicles and technology.
While stressing further on the causes of road crashes, Nnadi disclosed that from observation on the activities in the sector, many vehicles, such as trucks and tankers rarely undergo vehicle inspection and they are the major cause of fatal road crashes with huge loss of lives and property.
“The drivers are either minors or not humanly safety conscious in their driving attitude. This is where the government should be seriously focused to ensure deployment of adequate personnel and officers with relevant operational vehicles and technology, to enforce safety on our roads and to promote prevention of road crashes.
Amb Nnadi argued that it has become fashionable, or ritual for government’s road safety agency, to dish out annual reports of road crash victims without declaration of solutions to avert further occurrence.
This, he said is unacceptable and unjustifiable.
Acknowledging that funds are being appropriated to the road traffic agencies in the performance of the functions, Amb. Nnadi questioned how such funds are expended and whether the funds are adequate to enforce regulations that are almost obsolete and outdated in the current terms.
“The United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2020 -2030 resolution was made pursuant to the United Nations General Assembly declaration with the objective to reduce road crash deaths and injuries by 50% from 2020 to 2030 but unfortunately for Nigeria, that objective is not being pursued considering the current over bearing increase in road crash deaths and injuries including loss of property.
“We achieve nothing by being negligent to the carnage of road crashes than agony, trauma, poverty, creating orphans, widows and widowers, which to a large extent is not the pride of a nation like Nigeria,” Nnadi further expressed.
“Let government rise to curb or curtail this monster that is destroying lives and property of Nigerians, while it is necessary that lives should matter,” Nnadi concluded.