Vice-President Kashim Shettima says there is a need for a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s road safety system to reduce the number of accidents recorded on the country’s roads.
Shettima spoke on Friday during a meeting with the leadership of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), led by Shehu Mohammed, corps marshal, at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The vice-president said there should be “deliberate efforts toward addressing our road challenges” in line with international best practices in countries like United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Shettima urged the FRSC boss to address the increasing road accidents caused by non-adherence to traffic regulations on the highways and in the cities.
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The vice-president added that technology should be adopted to improve compliance to road safety measures.
“We need a comprehensive solution for our road safety challenges. The whole ecosystem is not as it should be,” Shettima was quoted as saying in a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, his media aide.
“In places like Dubai and the UK, they have a mechanism of checking road traffic violators, capture their car number plates and are charged directly from their bank account.
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“This way, people are encouraged to obey the law. We need to be a disciplined nation.”
The vice-president is expected to inaugurate the National Road Safety Advisory Council, which is saddled with the responsibility of reducing traffic accidents by half before 2030.
On his part, Mohammed said the council is a critical aspect of the updated Nigeria Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030.
“The idea is to reduce road traffic crashes by 50% between now and 2030,” he said
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The FRSC boss said the council’s primary functions include setting national road safety targets, coordinating efforts between federal, state and local governments, and overseeing the implementation of strategic initiatives.
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