THE Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has attributed over speeding, drivers’ recklessness as factors responsible for road accidents across the nation.
Fashola, who described the road crashes and injuries as ‘avoidable’, said the incidents were not always due to bad roads as often claimed by road users.
He spoke yesterday in Abuja, during a Capacity Building Workshop on the Activation of the five United Nations Convention on Road Traffic acceded to by the Federal Government.
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“Injuries and avoidable accidents that occur daily on our highways are a regrettable concern to this Ministry. There is no state in Nigeria that the federal government is not executing one road project or the other,” Fashola said in a statement issued by Theodore Agbagwa, the Director of Information, FMPWH.
Meanwhile, based on data from the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) report (2012 – 2016), compiled from the database of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 47, 036 road crashes occurred between 2007 to 2012, killing 29, 677 people.
In 2016, 11, 363 road accidents were recorded across the country. As at August 2018, not less than 1, 331 Nigerians died in another road accident during the second quarter of the year alone. 1, 257 of the figure were adults while the remaining 74 were children.
The reviewed report, 2014 – 2018 revealed that about 50 percent of total Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) and fatalities across the country were recorded in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Ogun and Edo.
“The higher incidents of RTCs in these zones are due mainly to the significantly higher traffic volumes along the interstate routes within the regions, coupled with bad road conditions and road user behaviour.”
Meanwhile, Fashola assured that his Ministry would soon embark on the deployment of manpower to fix extra road signs, meant to provide guides, support, and direction for road users.
While he noted the reduction on road crashes on highways, the Minister charged the FRSC officials to intensify efforts on public enlightenment campaign, orientation and education of drivers to imbibe good behaviour on the highways to ensure the safety of lives and properties.
Earlier on, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration lauded the road safety officials for recording good success in the reduction of the road accident.
The PS, who represented the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, stressed that the FCTA would continue to provide the needed support to ensure roads within its jurisdiction is made safe for users.
Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, the FRSC Corps Marshall renewed the commitment of the Commission to road safety, attributing the agency’s success to stakeholders’ supports.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at oadanikin@icirnigeria.org. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin