Osodi’s road accidents in perspective

The event was declared open by the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka. He said for the first time, the Nigerian elite is participating in an issue which many consider as poor man’s worry. Chidoka explained that the elite feel that airlines are their exclusives, because that is the most used […]

The event was declared open by the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka. He said for the first time, the Nigerian elite is participating in an issue which many consider as poor man’s worry. Chidoka explained that the elite feel that airlines are their exclusives, because that is the most used means of transport from them, out of state.
“They imagine they are safer on the roads because they have jeeps and well trained drivers. They have a general perception that road safety is a poor people’s affair, but they do not take into consideration that accidents and disasters can occur on the way in and out of the airport.” He thanked the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) for breaking the norm and being a part of the event.
For a company who one of her major slogans is health safety environment, SNEPCo was more than pleased to be a part of the vanguard for better roads and road usage to avert crisis.
Speaking at the opening, the Managing Director of the establishment, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe said the award winning photographs are striking in their illustrations of accidents on roads and major highways as they depict hazards of road travel around the country.
Onyejekwe said the pictures highlighted the urgent need for adequate training for all road users, including adherence to traffic rules and taking personal responsibility by doing simple things that can save lives.
The Chairman of the African Artists’ Foundation, Mr. Azu Nwagbogu described the artist as one who has an eye for a story considering the fact that he trained as a photojournalist. “The story he tells now is one of hope and faith. George has survived many near death experiences and is living to tell the tale. He captures the dramatic and scandalous in artistic, even romantic fashion.”
The display regarded by guests as one of the biggest and most impressive held in Nigeria detailing images on road use and drivers featured fifteen graphic photographs taken across the country showing the different sides to the dexterity of drivers from the various parts.
From a desire born out of questioning why Nigerians like to play the blame game when misfortunes occur, Osodi said he began studying and analyzing the situation through the lenses of his camera across Nigeria. “When negative things happen to us, we tend to attribute them to the devil’s handiwork rather than correct the factors which led to the incidences and avoid reoccurrences. That’s how I got involved in this road accident project.
“We need to stop blaming and start addressing the issues of drunken driving, indiscipline, bad roads, irresponsibility and the rest of them. We also have the case of bad tyres being shipped into the country and Nigerians buying them because that it what they can afford. Let us leave the periphery and deal with the real issue at hand.
“I am hoping that since the policymakers and those in authority are here, they will be impacted upon by these images and begin to work towards averting some of the disasters we encounter on Nigerian roads,” he said.
The exhibition organised by the African Artists’ Foundation in collaboration with the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company comes ends today.