BETWEEN AUTO AND PLANE CRASHES:

Specifically, Azuka decried the seeming level of indifference attached to road crashes, in comparison with air mishaps in Nigeria and also painted vivid picture of usual government reaction to helicopter crashes involving 5 people: it would have not only dominated national discourse for a long time but also elicited Presidential, Governors, Legislators and the top […]

Specifically, Azuka decried the seeming level of indifference attached to road crashes, in comparison with air mishaps in Nigeria and also painted vivid picture of usual government reaction to helicopter crashes involving 5 people: it would have not only dominated national discourse for a long time but also elicited Presidential, Governors, Legislators and the top Politicians paying condolence visits to the bereaved (due to their social status) and issued condolence messages in addition to the setting up of a probe panel to unravel remote causes for the air mishaps.
Though, Azuka’s figures on causalities of the two crashes along Ore-Benin and Ihiala-Onitsha roads was not accurate as later confirmed by the manifest from the Transport Company involved in the Benin crash, another fundamental issue raised in his piece was the way and manner the victims were treated as faceless and nameless Nigerians even in the face of the need to respect the sanity of human life.
As we ponder over the sad incidents of last week on our highways, one can recall vividly that about N30 billion was voted as intervention fund after the consistent dropping of air crafts from the skies in 2005. (Bellview and Sosoliso), apparently due to the involvement of top government functionaries and business moguls.
In the same vein, media reports indicate that the Federal government has out of N1.732 Trillion on intervention funds spent in different sectors of the economy, pushed N300Billion into Power and the Aviation Sector.
This piece is meant to further trump up sentiments by ‘daring’ to equate road crashes with air crashes. It is rather saddening to note that as you read this script, a mass burial has taken place to commit to mother earth, our brothers and sisters. As we mourn this national loss, let me address some of the fallouts of the event of last week. The first is the compulsory use of the passengers’ manifest. Ever since the introduction of the passengers’ manifest in line with best practice in the Aviation sector, this novelty has suffered some hiccups ranging from reluctance of operators to comply, reluctance of these operators to submit filled out copies to the FRSC and apathy on the part of passengers to provide accurate data such as name, address, next-of-kin, phone numbers and other relevant details contrary to what obtains in the Aviation industry where passengers willingly provide additional data that are not sought for.
The above scenario has hampered FRSC’s ability to identify dead victims of road crashes in Nigeria such as the Igbogui incident where despite the provision of a seemingly irregular manifest, the human skulls and charred bodies retrieved by FRSC rescue teams, could not be attached to any particular name.
For emphasis, Section 51(5) of the National Road Traffic Regulations of 2004 mandates all passengers on intercity movements to give correct information about themselves for documentation or be refused entry into such vehicles. Most fleet operators fall short of this directive and despite on-going arrests and prosecution of erring operators , this situation still persists.
The second issue is the increasing involvement of tanker and trailer drivers in crashes. In a study conducted by FRSC on crashes involving tankers and trailers between 2007 and 2010, it was discovered that 30% of crashes and 42% of deaths within this period, was attributed to tankers and trailers. This findings and the need to promote safer fleet operations led to the introduction of the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme which the Corps initiated in 2007. Till date, the FRSC has de-certified 210 fleet operators for not complying with specified requirements for their certification.
While we ponder over these numerous initiatives, there is one fundamental lacuna which comes to the fore as we look at road crashes and air mishaps: unlike the case with air crashes, an Agency is statutorily empowered to withdraw the operating license of the airline operator who falls short of set standards, investigate the culpability of the operator and the ultimate de-certification or re-certification of the agency like the case of Dana Air, to continue business. While this is on, passengers exhibit a near ‘don’t touch that air line attitude”. The reverse is the case when it comes to road crashes. At as today, FRSC is yet to be empowered to withdraw the operating license of a transport operator who is culpable in a fatal crash. The Corps is only empowered to withdraw or suspend the drivers’ license of a serial offender which is why the penalty point system will soon become operative in Nigeria. Another worry is that the public never takes FRSC advice or warning seriously until there is a near- miss or a crash such as night trips, excessive speeding, phoning behind the wheels, use of tokumbo (fairly used) tyres or the need to strap children below the ages of 12 years in the appropriate car restraint.
The third issue is on broken down articulated vehicles on our highways. As at date, the FRSC has only 3 heavy duty tow trucks which are presently manning three critical corridors. Even with the delivery by the World Bank under the safe corridor project of 24 heavy duty patrol bikes and 6 ambulances to add to the 15 patrol vehicles and communication equipment in 2012,the Corps’ capacity to meet these critical assignment needs to be boosted by both government and the private sector.
There is no doubt that the Corps with the support of all stakeholders need to fast-track every possible strategy to stay on top of the gains of the last 25 years if the 2013 projection of a 30% reduction in road crashes and 20% in fatalities is to be achieved.