NIGERIA-TRANSPORT: Over a Thousand Road Deaths in Three Months

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Oct 2 1997 (IPS) - That too many people are being mowed down by the day on Nigeria’s roads is something no one here disputes, but there is less agreement on the reasons for the carnage, which range from illiteracy to structural adjustment, depending on whom you ask.

Road mishaps have killed an average of 10 persons each day over the past three months in this West African nation where double- figured accidental death tolls are common.

In the past two weeks, newspapers here have been filled with daily stories of fatal accidents. One paper disclosed that “40 people lost their lives when a luxurious bus collided with a trailer near Benin”. Another reported that “19 persons perished in a ghastly accident along Lokoja road”.

According to reports here, 1,200 persons have been killed in such mishaps in the past three months in Nigeria, which loses about 250 million dollars each year as a result of road accidents. That money goes mainly towards buying medicines, hospital equipment and spare parts for damaged vehicles.

While everyone agrees that the death toll is high, opinions differ as to why this is so.

Col. Mahammed Marwa, the military administrator of Lagos state, blames it on the large number of drivers unable to read traffic signs. Nigerians are paying a high price for that illiteracy, he said recently.

But Abayomi Omiyale, commander of the Lagos branch of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) feels that the lack of western education can hardly be the most significant factor in the bloodletting on Nigeria’s roads.

“I think it is the general attitude of the drivers that is responsible,” said Omiyale, whose commission was set up nine years ago to make road users more traffic conscious, carry out patrols and help reduce accidents on highways.

“We have said it over and over that drivers should learn to be patient on the roads,” he argued. “With an average of 222 vehicles and about 2,000 pedestrians on every kilometre of road in Lagos, human sensibilities have a greater role to play.”

According to the Deputy Director of the National Uniform Licensing Scheme, Baba-Gana Ibrahim, “80 percent of road accidents in the country are traceable to human factors, particularly the incompetence of most drivers, while vehicular and environmental problems account for the remaining 20 percent.”

Since the introduction of a structural adjustment programme in 1986, the prices of vehicles have skyrocketed and so has the cost of spare parts, which few car owners can afford to replace. The result is that many of the vehicles being driven in Nigeria are not roadworthy.

Not everyone blames the drivers. Some here say it is also the fault of those charged with ensuring safety on the roads and who, they charge, have shirked their responsibilities, especially the police.

The roughly 10,000 FRSC road marshalls monitor speed and compliance with laws governing road use and the 100,000-strong police check vehicles’ particulars and roadworthiness and keep a lookout for car-related crime. The general feeling is that, unlike the police, the marshalls have made a difference.

“The performance of the FRSC on the expressways has not stopped accidents, but it has helped to reduce them,” says legal practitioner Mike Uyi. “The commission should carry out more campaigns not just on the expressways, but they should move to the cities.

“Drivers of long buses and other road users within the cities need to be enlightened also on the proper use of roads and respect for road signs and traffic policemen at road junctions.”

Itinerant businessman Edmond Anyawu agrees that the commission has worked towards reducing accidents, but charges that some FRSC marshalls have become corrupt, condoning dangerous practices like overloading.

“The overloading of vehicles is not checked any more by the marshalls and this has resulted in recent accidents and high casualty rates,” he said. “If overloading is disallowed, passengers can easily escape in emergencies.”

Anyawu, who also thinks that good roads and cheaper and more available spare parts would help reduce road accidents, feels the police “should be brought in to increase patrols on the highways”.

He and a few others think the police and the FRSC should be merged, but it is unlikely that a majority of people feel that way. Transport expert Sam Okodolor doesn’t. He says the two forces should be kept separate since the fear and respect the FRSC has earned among motorists might be eroded if it is placed under police control.

“Cases of extortion by road marshalls are very low and there is the belief that if it is put under the police, members are likely to imbibe the culture of extortion which is rampart in the police force,” he notes.