Patrick-Adenusi

By Daniels Ekugo

Experts and industry followers on road safety matters in Nigeria have said that about 100 persons lose their lives as result of road traffic crashes on Nigerian roads, which brings the total to over 36,000 deaths every year.

This is contrary to the varying monthly figures of between 13 and 20 lives lost to road traffic crashes being disclosed by the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC). This is even as most accidents that occur at nights are not reported most times.

Adenusi Patrick, a safety advocate and one of the lead gladiators of Safety Beyond Borders; a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) revealed at the one-day forum put together by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) that not less than 100 persons die daily across the length and breadth of Nigeria roads as a result of accidents. He identified fatigue as the major cause of most road traffic crashes on the roads.

According to him, “Over 100 die as a result of road accident in Nigeria daily. You would recall that 17 years ago, we were told that 65 people were killed daily. The question is what has changed.

Adenusi lamented that over the years, both the Nigeria Police and the FRSC have not been able to work together on generating accurate and uniform, but reasonably acceptable data on number of road users that loses their lives.

He however called on corporate organisations in Nigeria to support the on-going effort by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to curtail road accidents across the country. Adenusi described road safety campaign as a collective responsibility, noting that corporate organisations have critical roles to play.

He also blamed fatigue reported cases of road accident nationwide, adding that motorists and other road users should adhere strictly to lay down rules and regulations and also appealed to religious leaders to join the campaign against reckless driving in the country.

In his submission, “The FRSC needs more vehicles and equipment. The financial institutions such as Banks and Insurance firms are not supporting the activities of FRSC. “The financial institutions should understand that it is in their interest for people to stay alive. That is the only way they can make more profit”.

While describing road safety campaign as a collective responsibility, in which corporate organisations have critical roles to play, he maintained that the FRSC need more vehicles and equipment. He wondered why the financial institutions such as banks and insurance firms are not supporting the activities of FRSC.

“The financial institutions should understand that it is in their interest for people to stay alive. That is the only way they can make more profit”, said Adenusi.

He also blamed fatigue reported cases of road accident nationwide, adding that motorists and other road users should adhere strictly to laid down rules and regulations.

Adenusi, who is also a member of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Safety Beyond Borders, appealed to religious leaders to join the campaign against reckless driving in the country.

He said: “Over 100 die as a result of road accident in Nigeria daily. Seventeen years ago, we were told that 65 people were killed daily. The question is what has changed.

In a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, no fewer than 2, 673 people died in road accidents in Nigeria between January and June. This implies an average of 15 people died each day in the first six months of 2017 in road accidents across the country.