Press Releases

Road Traffic Accidents: "We Have Decided To Stop Talking And Start Acting", Says Fashola
• As governor hosts Young Safety Ambassadors

Sep 2, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday threw more light on the recent restriction on the movements of commercial motorcycles on the State roads saying his administration has decided to start implementing all laws and regulations aimed at curbing avoidable road accidents in the State.

Governor Fashola, who spoke at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, while playing host to the Traffic Safety Ambassadors, a group of young students from the State's public schools who paid him a courtesy visit, said that this decision informed some of the many things the Government is doing presently in the transportation and road safety sector.

Governor Fashola, who expressed sadness over the needless loss of lives through motor accidents on the State's roads, declared, "We are here because we have a duty; we have a responsibility as a Government and that responsibility includes the safety and security of lives. As a Government, we have decided to stop talking and start acting".

Restating that the restrictions do not mean outright ban of commercial motorcycles from the State's roads, the Governor reiterated, "We are only restricting their movement in the interest of their own lives and the safety of the public. It is in everybody's interest that this should be done".

The Governor, however, thanked the Okada operators "for the support and cooperation we have got from them so far", adding, "It is safety and security issue and everybody must get involved".

Emphasizing the importance of transportation, Governor Fashola, who described it as the fulcrum of modern civilization, declared, "We need transportation to survive, we need it to get children to school, we need it to get to work, we need it to get food on our tables, we need it to do everything that we do; without transportation, we probably won't be here".

The Governor, who noted that the Government's Road Safety Advocacy Programme was conceived when the Drivers' Institute programme started in the State, said it came about with the realization that many drivers plying the State's roads were unaware of their rights and their duties on the roads adding, "We decided to start a training programme with the drivers' scheme".

"I am glad to say that not only is the Drivers' Institute becoming very popular for drivers in the public service, all of whom have virtually gone on training at the institute, many school bus drivers in the State have also received training in the institute", the Governor said.

Continuing, the Governor declared, "We then thought that if we are training adults who have driven for decades without formal training, do we have to wait until the children go through the same process before we train them. That was why we started to bridge the lack of training and ignorance from the cradle".

"We recognize that these children are more aware than we give them credit for; we recognize that these children have formed opinions which we do not give them credit for; and listening to some of the children today, I am convinced that they know more than we give them credit for", the Governor said.

Thanking the initiator of Safety Traffic Ambassadors, Dr. Mariam Masha, a professional Dental Surgeon, "for giving up what would have been a prosperous career to come and give all your skills, all your energies to develop the potentials in our children", Governor Fashola said the importance of transportation has made it imperative that traffic safety issues must be treated with utmost seriousness pointing out that this should best commence from the children.

"Accidents will happen and that is why we must build capacity especially in our children to embrace the safety in traffic. Knowledge is the key to reducing accidents and that is why the Students' Advocacy Programme is so important", the Governor said.

He also thanked the private sector participants, the Fidelity Bank and Arik Airlines, for their support to the programme describing it as "Corporate Social Responsibility at its best". He added, "As these children grow Fidelity Bank and every other person will benefit from their knowledge."

The Governor said the State Government has also undertaken some projects to enhance safety and save lives on the roads citing the 20-bed Accident and Emergency Hospital at the old toll gate on Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

Congratulating the children selected to travel to London to visit the London Transport Museum, Governor Fashola said, "We are doing what we are doing on our roads today, not by accident but as a deliberate policy trying to look after your interest", adding that the side walks and trees planted along the roads are meant to protect the children from traffic accidents and from the heat of the sun.

In her remarks earlier, initiator of the programme and SeniorSpecial Assistant to the Governor on Road Traffic Education, Dr.. Mariam Masha, said out of a total of 4, 000 students from Lagos State and Coutonu in Benin Republic registered for the competition, only 15 students got to the finals from which six students emerged as Outstanding winners who would travel to the United Kingdom.

She said the selected students had undergone several road traffic trainings and tests which made them to stand out among thousands of the competitors adding that the programme had helped the students in the area of road traffic management.

Two of the selected students, Busari Adam and Aiyeyemi Hezekiah thanked Governor Fashola for involving the children actively in the Transportation and traffic safety policies of his administration and appealed to him not to relent in his efforts on Transportation and Traffic Safety.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Special Adviser on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said the aim of the School Traffic Advocacy Programme was to imbibe in the children traffic safety values with a view to empowering them with proper traffic safety knowledge.

Also present at the occasion were Special Adviser on LASTMA, Mr. Sola Giwa, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Oluseyi Coker, representative of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Frances Bakre, representative of Arik Airlines, Mr. Lanre Bamigbose and other top government functionaries.