My Greatest Challenge In Lagos Is — FRSC Boss Reveals

BY CAMI EZENWA, LIZZY AZUBUIKE & MARY OMOKHAGBOR

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) sector commander in Lagos, Cmr Olusegun Ogungbemide has shared with The Eagle, the most challenging aspect of his job.

Speaking exclusively with our team in an interview in his office in Lagos, the amiable Corps Commander  said his challenge ensuring road safety was neither bad roads no the mechanical condition of vehicles.

Instead, what bothers him most, is the human conduct those who use the roads in Lagos.

This, he singles out as the worst culprit in road crashes recorded in the state, saying they would be greatly reduced if human beings could learn to conduct themselves responsibly.

“I don’t have problems with the road.. because the government is doing roads all over. And why I say I don’t have problem with the road is the road cannot use itself”,  Ogungbemide said, adding that investigation of accident after accident has shown that the determining factor in their occurrence was more human conduct than anything else. this, he described as his major challenge.

According to corps commander, for every single vehicle that was involved in an accident on any road, many more other vehicles had passed there without incident.

“It is not about the road, it is not about the vehicle, it is about the handler.

“We have terrible drivers in Nigeria. And it is not about not knowing what road signs are; it is about conduct and morals.

“As a toddler, they taught me then that  when I get to the traffic light,  . red means stop, but somebody will get to the read light and beat it.

“I know we have other people who see road signs as decorations, to them, Sanwo-olu is beautifying Lagos. When they see a narrow bridge ahead, they say: wao, this sign is fine, and enter that bridge with speed, not knowing that it is telling them to slow down.

“So, the major challenge I have in Lagos is human conduct.

Further elaborating the challenge, he said: “It is the humans that create traffic; it is humans that make calls while driving , all strata, both, low, middle, high class”, the FRSC boss said..

“And there is nothing that distracts drivers as making calls while driving.

“It is a human that puts the vehicle with terrible emission on the road, that is killing us gradually, and we think we are having fun in Lagos.  

“It is a human that sees a little traffic ahead and starts shunting left and right, blocks the entire intersection that  nobody would be able to go again.

“It is human that the law says use seat belt, and he says, ‘why should I stain my clothes?’.

“ It is a human that drives truck without light –  I am not talking of the bulb; I am talking of the lighting casing not being  there – , and he would drive it into the night. It is human that drives vehicles round Lagos without number plate, so that when he hits somebody and runs, nobody would trace him.

“It is human that when the law says do not go more than 100 kilometres per hour,  that decides to go 130/140 because the road is smooth.

“If the road is bad, people complain it is spoiling our cars. On the other hand, the government does the road, and we are killing ourselves. So, what are e talking about.

So, when you look at it, in Lagos, my headache is not the road, it is not the vehicle.

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“ It is a human that when the vehicle gets fault, a vehicle that when you beckon on somebody, they could help you push to the side, but they would wait there waiting for the mechanic to come, and others could go to hell.

So, it is all about morals. 80 per cent of our problems is morals, impunity”, the FRSC boss said

-Watch out for the full interview on The Eagle