President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the minister of works to fix bad roads in the country to reduce accidents and ensure safety.
Mr Labaran Maku, the Minister of Information, disclosed this on Thursday at a one-day public lecture organised by the FRSC in collaboration with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Maku, who was the chairman of the occasion, noted that the country had lost many lives to road accidents.
He said that as part of efforts to reduce pressure on roads and reduce accidents, the Onitsha light Port would soon be inaugurated for use.
Maku attributed most of the road accidents in the country to human factor, and called on motorists and road users to comply with safety regulations and avoid cutting corners.
“Road accidents do not come from God because it is a fatalistic attitude by Nigerians.
“Whenever we crash our vehicles and kill people, in most cases, we say it is the will of God. God is not responsible for accidents and fatalities.
“We are largely responsible because of human errors. Accidents are preventable; most of the crashes we suffer on our roads are preventable,” he said.
In a presentation, Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the FRSC, called for the development of minimum national standards for vehicles in the country to reduce accidents.
Chidoka noted that many vehicles, especially mini-buses being imported into the country were without safety standards.
He, however, said that the FRSC in collaboration with key stakeholders in the transport sector had set up a committee to formulate national safety standards for vehicles being brought into the country.
The corps marshal said that when operational, the committee would set safety standards that must be met by all vehicles coming into the country.
He said that many of the mini-buses brought into the country from some Asian countries were being used for long distance journeys which they were not meant for.
“I have also noticed that the vehicles carry 18 passengers instead of the 15 passengers they were designed for, thereby making them prone to accidents.”
He described the problems associated with the mini-buses as “worrisome”, saying that they were not meant to be used for mass transit.
Chidoka said the FCT had the highest rate of road accidents in the country followed by Kogi, Oyo, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, Benue, Ogun and Kano.
He noted that Oyo and Kano had the highest number of deaths from road accidents, and said that the two states occupied the first and second position because of their link with many other states.
The title of the lecture was “Road Safety in Nigeria: The journey So Far.’’
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