Nigerian roads as 2nd most dangerous in the world

The recent disclosure by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that Nigeria ranks second highest country with road traffic accident fatalities out of 193 nations captured by the world body ought to alarm many Nigerians. The Kaduna Sector Commander of the Corps, Imrana Ibrahim, echoed WHO’s startling revelation in a paper entitled “Contemporary Issues on FRSC Regulatory and Enforcement: The Role of Special Marshals”, at a workshop of Special Marshals and Partnership Department of the organisation held in Kaduna.
Nigeria records 33.7 deaths per 100, 000 population annually, next to Thailand with the highest statistics of 38 deaths per 100, 000. This unenviable second position is coming a quarter of a century after the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was created. The corps’ core mandate is to ensure sanity and safety on the highways and reduce accidents to the barest minimum. It also has the responsibility of educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of discipline on the roads. The temptation to blame this ugly situation on the ineffectiveness of the FRSC and other road traffic agencies is very strong. But there is the need to examine the factors fueling automobile accidents and avoidable deaths in the country. Notable among them are the deplorable state of our highways, reckless/drunk-driving, unqualified and poorly trained drivers behind the wheels, putting faulty vehicles on the highways, embezzlement of funds meant for road maintenance, night journeys, presence of heavy duty trucks, overloading, phoning/text messaging while driving, corruption by law enforcers on the highways, recklessness of commercial motorcyclists and location of markets by the roadside.
For instance, in two separate accidents that occurred in Kogi state a couple of years ago, no fewer than 200 people were crushed to death by heavy duty trucks at Felele Market in Lokoja and Dekina Market. The two markets were located by the roadside. Statistics may not be readily available, but commercial motorcyclists account for a sizeable percentage of road accident fatalities across the country with several of their passengers maimed for life. It is curious that governments are helpless in enforcing safety through the use of crash helmets.
Coming on the heels of the latest rankings is the decision of the oil workers under the auspices of the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG) to stop supplying petroleum products. Their action, though suspended for now, was premised on the dilapidated state of federal roads across the country. Consequently, fuel scarcity and long queues have emerged all over the place. It was not the first time that the union would be employing this tactic to arm-twist the government to do the needful. In July 2010, the leadership of the union employed a similar approach but nothing concrete came out of it. Were the rail system functional, our major highways would have, to a large extent, been spared the severe wear and tear resulting from massive pounding by heavy duty vehicles on daily basis.
Records show that Nigeria has the largest road network in West Africa and second largest south of the Sahara. Our roads are the busiest in the sub-region, partly owing to the country’s huge population. But they are poorly constructed and maintained.
Be that as it may, we call on the federal government and the relevant agencies to raise the bar in order to lower the rate of automobile accidents on our highways. Many lives could still be saved if the governments strive to rescue the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. We also call for a synergy among various agencies like the FRSC, the Vehicle Inspectorate Office (VIO) and the Motor Traffic Division (MTD) of the Nigeria Police Force. A call was made in the past to merge the three bodies because their overlapping duties leave much to be desired. There may be need to revisit the issue.