Checking Carnage On Our Roads

The recent crashes recorded in Nigeria’s aviation industry may result in temporary pressure on road transportation across the country, but the question must be asked if the roads are safer?

Only last month, the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) released a report that Nigerian roads are the second most deadly in the world with the figure of deaths running into hundreds of thousands of road users annually. Clearly, it is the single most deadly means of transportation in Nigeria.

Hardly any day passes without reports of a road carnage in one part of the country or the other. In some cases, stories of the deaths and their causes are simply unbelievable. And instead of the trend dropping, many more Nigerians are sent to their untimely graves.

Just last week, an accident involving a petrol tanker somewhere on the Lagos – Ibadan Express Way affected more than 20 vehicles and resulted in scores of deaths. These deaths are avoidable. The authorities and every other stakeholder should be worried.

The negative impart of deaths resulting from  road accidents on the economy can hardly be quantified. Nigeria cannot possibly make  much progress on her transformation agenda, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the vision 20-20-20 if such carnage persists.

Even the electoral process that is at the base of our democracy is threatened by the death –trap that our roads have become in recent past. Incidentally, Nigeria is not the only country where road transportation is in major use, but why the country’s roads have become so deadly demands answers.

Until recently, the cause(s) of road mishaps were within human configuration until some social misfits added a demonic slant to the ill. A clear example was the armed robbery on a luxury bus, in which passengers were ordered to lie down on the road only to be run over by a trailer.

As mindless and inhuman as that isolated incident appears and the gloomy picture it paints of our road transportation system, we do think that quite a lot of accidents on our roads are avoidable. The state of roads in parts of the country has continued to take the blame for a lot of deaths, but the reason why so little is done to change the situation, cannot be understood.

In addition to the many trunk “A” roads, linking major sections of the country, like the East/West road that are in perpetual ruins, many states have carried on like nothing was wrong when roads in their cities degenerate to death traps.

Apart from the accidents that these roads cause, the nation loses a lot in damage caused to vehicles and goods.

Also disturbing is the attitude of road users who give very little or no attention to the road-worthiness of their vehicles and indeed safety of other road users. Some drivers do not only overload their vehicles, but also often operate under the influence of alcohol and not to mention that several do so without due training and licensing.

These issues are not insurmountable. Government cannot pretend to lack the authority to regulate the sector effectively or lack the funds to build sustainable roads.

 It is true that the Federal Government once banned the importation of very old vehicles along with used motor tyres to check road accidents the inforcement of such ban remains to be seen.

But present realities indeed call for more proactive steps. In fact, the country needs to declare a state of emergency on the sector and in good time. Also, the many agencies charged with ensuring safety on our roads must be up to their duties.

Furthermore, government must take steps to employ technology in the administration of operations on Nigeria roads. There should be a dependable national data base on drivers that will enhance the implementation of sanctions on erring motorists in every state of the country.

It is noteworthy that, some states have raised agencies to improve the administration of traffic. But the emphasis seemed to have weighed more towards monetary returns than instilling road safety culture.

The danger on our roads must be addressed quickly with a view to bringing down the carnage and saving the nation from further heartbreaks.