Terrible week of road accidents

Last week will be remembered for a long time as one of the saddest in this nation’s history with respect to road accidents. On Sunday last week Minister of State for Labour Mr. James Ocholi, SAN, as well as his wife and son died in an accident along the Kaduna-Abuja road. A day later, Chief […]

Last week will be remembered for a long time as one of the saddest in this nation’s history with respect to road accidents. On Sunday last week Minister of State for Labour Mr. James Ocholi, SAN, as well as his wife and son died in an accident along the Kaduna-Abuja road. A day later, Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigeria Army Major General Yusha’u Mahmood Abubakar died in a crash on the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway.  Abubakar was the former Theatre Commander of Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole, the military operation to banish insurgents from the North East. Under his command, spectacular successes were recorded in the war against Boko Haram. Acting General Officer Commanding [GOC] the Army’s 3 Armoured Division Brigadier M.S.A. Aliyu was also injured in the same accident. In the same week, 18 people died in an accident along the Bauchi-Jos highway when their commercial bus crashed.
We mourn the citizens who died in these crashes and we join in prayers for God to give them the fortitude to bear the losses. The deaths are however a reminder about the problems facing road transportation in this country. In all three cases, burst tyres were mentioned the cause of the crash. Used car tyres popularly called tokunbo are notorious for bursting on the road. This is obviously because they have been corroded by rain and sea spray during their long trips from Europe and during their stay at various ports. It is however unlikely that Minister Ocholi’s and General Abubakar’s cars had used tyres, hence suspicion must now be extended even to “new” tyres.
The situation calls for an urgent national soul searching on tyres. The Federal Road Safety Corps, Standards Organisation of Nigeria [SON], Vehicle Inspection Officers [VIOs], road transport workers and tyre manufacturers must all be involved in this study. A quick check must be conducted on all tyres in use in the country. Following Ocholi’s shocking death, FRSC hurriedly conducted an investigation and submitted a report to the Federal Executive Council, FEC. It said it discovered that the Ocholis’ driver had no valid license, was driving at high speed and that Ocholi and his family were not wearing seat belts.
Ordinarily, the fact that Ocholi’s driver had no valid license should be a serious matter. The truth however is that in Nigeria, the driver’s license has lost its significance in recent years as far as driving safety is concerned. In the past, any holder of a driver’s license is assumed to have gone through the necessary driving tests. This is no longer the case. Today, most people receive their licenses from the comfort of their homes. The FRSC should address this situation to make the license what it used to be. As for seat belts, FRSC has in the last two decades succeeded in instilling the culture of wearing seat belts in drivers.  However, most Nigerians still think that only the driver and at most the passenger occupying the front seat should use seat belts.
Over speeding is probably the biggest culprit of the lot. Although many Nigerian drivers are guilty of this, drivers of VIPs are the worst culprits. Not too long ago a motorist was pushed off a bridge in Abuja by a governor’s over speeding convoy. The over speeding of VIP convoys must be checked. It is a good thing that the FRSC is introducing the Speed Limiter. The state of roads is also an issue in these accidents. Drivers often lose control of their vehicles while trying to avoid potholes. The need for proper maintenance of all roads cannot be overemphasized.
There is also need for emergency health centers along the major roads. At the moment there are two hospitals along the Kaduna to Abuja road but how equipped are they to manage emergency situations? These and other such hospitals should be fully equipped. Otherwise, even our VIPs will not survive long enough to go abroad for treatment in the event of these frequent road crashes.