80% of Road Accidents in Nigeria are due to bad roads and careless driving

80% of Road Accidents in Nigeria are due to bad roads and careless driving.

When? I mean, when shall we begin to take responsibility for our actions and leave God and devil alone in our problems? When shall we stop accusing God or devil of our mistakes?

we hear Nigerian people say these things whenever something bad happens “Oh sorry, it is the will of God”, “Oh it has been destined to be like this” “Oh, it is their time to die” “ooh devil has worked overtime” “We love them but God needs them” etc. Really!!!!

In a country where Drug-abuse and addiction by drivers is celebrated, that most times, some commercial drivers will get drunk before driving as a way of clearing “their eyes” and then traffic rules and regulations are thrown to the winds ……and then, when accident occurs, we will say “oooh it is the will of God or perhaps we will blame Satan by saying “he has worked overtime”. Who do we really blame?

In a country where the condition of roads is very poor and deplorable and you hardly drive up to 1 kilometre without being greeted with potholes or sinkholes. Yet the drivers will be driving on the highest speed ever, violating the prescribed limits, Red-lights are often jumped. When an accident happens, we will say that the devil has worked overtime. Who do we blame?

In a country where a full family of wife and husband with their 2-5 children riding a two-wheeler in utter disregard of the rules of road safety and if they are run over by another crazy drunk driver we will ask God where are you? Who do we really blame?

In a country where road-safety measures are thrown to the winds and drivers and passengers will refuse to follow the basic safety routines like Lane discipline or wearing of seat belts. Strangely, the same people can put on their seat belt temporary if they are stopped by the road safety officials and they will remove it immediately after the checking point as if they are protecting the lives of road safety officials, not theirs……and then when something happens, they will say that, through diabolical means that their uncle or brother-in-law in the village or mother-in-law is responsible for the accident. But who do we really blame?

In a country where nobody has the patience to obey the few installed traffic lights or traffic rules; where the tendency to overtake is welcome as an “Expert skill” and manoeuvring is applauded but when we commence a journey, we will pray to God to cover the wheels of the vehicle with the special blood of Jesus Christ, at the same time, the drivers will flout the traffic rules. But they will blame the devil for any accident. Who do we blame?

In a country where Driving licenses are given on illegal gratifications to the authorities and where some commercial drivers or even private drivers don’t even have a valid driving license or some might have obtained one without proper training or driving lessons.

In a country where the commercial vehicles are usually overloaded with passengers and goods, in our local parlance we call it “attach”, whereby a six-seater vehicle will take up to 15 passengers if not more to get more profits……. where people can be seen sitting on the roof-tops of the buses and cars…..When an accident happens, we say it is the will of God…. Is it really the will of God?

In a country where there is lack of road-sense with unmanned “level- crossings”, where there is hardly any round-about discipline. The motorists often do not acknowledge that the vehicles on the right should be allowed to move first. And we quickly blame the devil for fatalities.

In a country where the condition of the vehicles is hardly found road-worthy, where the multiplicity of authorities and utter lack of coordination among them is another great source of worry. But nobody talks about it, instead, we have accepted it that way… who do we really blame for these accidents?

My people, my people………… As we are often greeted with the gory pictures of fatal accidents happening on our Nigerian roads, it is not just enough to hiss, to cry, to grieve, to type “RIP or send condolences to bereaved and then wait until we see other gruesome images posted online again. To prevent these accidents, it is imperative that effective long and short term measures are immediately taken. And I believe that there are few things we can do ourselves to reduce these increasing road traffic accidents in Nigeria. My 10cents to passengers, Drivers and Nigeria government.

To Nigerian Passengers

1. Do not enter the vehicle if you notice that the driver of the vehicle is driving under the influence of alcohol.
2. Do not allow your driver to over-speed or carry out dangerous overtaking and manoeuvring.
3. Do not enter an overcrowded or overloaded vehicle.
4. Do not enter a vehicle that shows sign of been faulty or at glance looks not road worthy.
5. Do not allow your driver to over-speed or encourage him to do so.
6. Be always on alert to checkmate your driver.

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To Nigerian Drivers

1. If you are among those drivers that often use your mobile phones while being on the move in your cars. Driving and using the mobile phone simultaneously may cause loss of control of the vehicle or concentration needed in safe and sane driving. This results in accidents and crashes. Please stop it.
2. Do not drive under the influence of alcohol or any drug substances
3. Do not over speed.
4. Do not overload passengers and goods for profits.
5. Do not carry passengers on the vehicle you know that is not road worthy or that is faulty.
6. Do not make unwise decisions or Uncalculated Risk of overtaking and manoeuvring to show off your driving skills.
7. Try to follow all the road safety rules and traffic rules

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To the Nigerian Government

1. Road safety should be a compulsory school subject.
2. Roads should be properly maintained and looked after. There should be multi-lane roads wherever necessary. There should be separate tracks for slow-moving vehicles from those of fast and very fast-moving vehicles.
3. There should be an effective check on the speed of the vehicles.
4. Radar guns can be used to check the speed.
5. Violation of traffic rules should be strictly dealt with.
6. Grant of driving licenses and permits to vehicles should be properly streamlined.
7. Those driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol should be given exemplary punishment and their licenses cancelled.
8. There should be heavy fines as well besides imprisonment. Road tax should be increased as a measure to reduce vehicle population on the roads.
9. People should be encouraged to use public transport system instead of their own cars etc. particularly when they are single.
10. They can ‘also pool cars’ so as to avoid road congestion.
11. There should be very strict rules with regard to the issue of driving licenses and registration of vehicles.
12. Above all, there should be proper awareness among the masses about road safety, observation of traffic rules and the proper use of the roads and national highways.

If we can do this………………………my people, at least we can minimize the rate of fatal accidents in Nigeria and then we can stop blaming God or Devil for our recklessness and mistakes

+Anthony-Claret Onwutalobi

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Please share this to all group or pages to create awareness. These accidents are getting out of hand