A senior official of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Ayodele Browne, who disclosed the alarming figure in Abuja recently, attributed the high rate of accidents to poor road infrastructure and high rate of substandard vehicles imported into the continent, “especially second hand vehicles”. “High number of vehicles is imported into the continent on a daily basis without provisions of additional road infrastructure by the governments of the respective African nations”, he added. Browne, who is the Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM – Operations) of the FRSC, was speaking at a one-day retreat for operations officers of the FCT sector command.
While we at Nigerian Newsday agree with the road safety official that poor conditions of roads and the use of second hand vehicles account for the high rate of road accidents in African, we also wish to point out that the failure of our road safety agencies is another fundamental factor that accounts for the ugly situation. First, on the poor condition of roads. It is an understatement to say that most of our roads have become death traps. This is in spite of the fact that every year billions of naira is budgeted not just for construction of new roads but also for the maintenance of the existing ones. For instance, in the first four years of the eight years of former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, about N300 billion was allegedly budgeted for roads in the country but today just as it were four years ago, there is virtually nothing to show that such colossal sum of money has been spent on our roads since they remain in poor state. In all probability, a large proportion of the money may have ended in the pockets of senior government officials to the detriment of good motorable roads and thus contributing to the high rate of road accidents on the continent.
Second, on the indiscriminate importation of second hand vehicles into African. Of course the factor responsible for the use or patronage of second hand vehicles popularly referred to as TOKUNBO in Nigeria, is the abject poverty that is prevalent on the African continent. For instance, it is impossible for even the highest paid civil servant in Nigeria to afford a brand new vehicle from his legitimate earning. This coupled with the inadequate poor and inefficient public transportation system forces those who can afford it, to go for second hand vehicles. However, since the importation and use of second hand vehicles have become necessary on the continent, it is very important to ensure that only road worthy vehicles are imported. Unfortunately government agencies charged with such tasks often fail to carry out their duties properly, due in large part to corruption. This is why today we have many vehicles that are not road worthy plying our roads, creating the potential for frequent accidents.
Added to this is also the problem of allowing unqualified persons to drive vehicles on the road. It is a well known fact that some commercial and private drivers do not have driving licenses, while those who have such licenses acquire them through the back door, without meeting the standard requirement for the possession of a driver’s license. The result is that people who are not supposed to drive, driving but in the process and engendering the lives of passengers and the road users
We at Nigerian Newsday therefore believes that corruption is at the root of all the problems that are responsible for the high rate of road accidents in Africa. Our leaders should therefore make judicious use of the huge amount of money budgeted yearly for roads, while the agencies responsible for enforcing rulers and regulations on the roads should discharge their duties in an effective and honest manner.