By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja
Nigerian Association of Commercial Commuters (NACC) has said that nation lost about 250,158 lives to highway accidents in the last six years with an average of 41,693 annually.
Mr George Ibok, National Secretary of NACC said new statistics from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), World Bank and World Health Organization has revealed that over 1.3 million people are killed in accidents yearly.
Ibok disclosed this while engaging decision makers in Kogi State Ministry of Transport as part of activities to commemorate the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week, 2023 on Monday in Lokoja.
He said that the statistics also revealed that more than 50 million people suffered various degrees of injury annually as a result of highway accidents.
The National Secretary noted that for persons between the age of five and 29 years, “there is no greater threat to their lives.
“There has been an increase in road accidents in Nigeria for six consecutive years, leading to the death of 41,693 annually”, he said.
Ibok said that the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week, 2023 Themed: Sustainable Transport: Focusing On Cycling, Walking and Public Transport aimed to address the challenges “that are close to the hearts of many Nigerians and indeed the world at large.
“We acknowledge the importance of road safety and the need to foster a culture of safety on our roads particularly, for cyclists”, he said.
The Safety Week, he revealed, therefore intends to focus on addressing the transport system as a whole, taking action to ensure safe roads, vehicles and behaviors as well as to improve emergency care.
This, he said, would be done through enforcement of 30km/hour in school and market areas and Provision of pedestrian facilities including pathways that are dedicated to pedestrians and physically challenged.
According to him, also part of the strategies to adopt in enhancing safety and limiting carnage on Nigerian roads is Traffic Calming measures to reduce speed of traffic in areas where pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are present.
National President of NACC, Mr Ogala David Polycarp, said that the association would capture road safety challenges in the state in its subsequent reports to the United Nations for possible intervention.
Hajia Alami Audu, Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Transport, said that Governor Yahaya Bello’s government had always been mindful of security and safety of road users adding that it was against this backdrop that it operationalized the Mega Station at Felele.
“With the new mega station at Felele, the issue of kidnapping as a result of different kinds of illegal motor parks where passengers board vehicles and never reach their destinations has been addressed”, she said.
Also speaking, Mr Olunde Segun Melo, Director Administration, said that the Ministry was relatively young as it was carved out of the state Ministry of Works in 2014 and solicited synergy with associations like NACC for it to perform.
Melo revealed that the Ministry would soon streamline tricycles (Keke-Napep) and commercial motorcyclists operations in the state as part of safety measures.
