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Nigerian ‘Road-Kill’ Epidemic Calls for Tougher Measures
“The third Sunday of November would be the annual day of remembrance for victims of road traffic accidents and their families”, according to a United Nations declaration in 2005.
 A ghastly road accident along Aba-Owerri highway, Nigeria. Credit Uche Nworah |
The Nigerian Federal Road Safety Commission released some stats on road traffic accidents in the country (don’t ask me how they come up with the numbers) to mark the day:
4,944 Nigerians were killed in 9,114 road accidents, while 17,390 were injured in 2006.
The Corp Marshall went on and dropped a bombshell; he gave a conservative estimate of 400 die daily on Nigerian roads!
Do the math: 400 deaths multiplied by 365 days. This is 146,000 deaths per year!!!
This means one in every 1,000 Nigerians die daily from preventable accidents on our roads.
If we give the Corp Marshall the benefit of doubt and admit this number as accurate, this is an epidemic of huge proportion. If this many die then how many are injured?
I can’t even wrap my mind round the “costs” (economic, social and emotional) associated with each of those accident events.
What nearly gave me a coronary was the passiveness with which the data was presented. The speakers highlighted the need to “pay attention”, “obey traffic rules”, and even pray. According to the Minster for Communication (who was present or represented at the occasion) motorist should “pray while travelling…not only for ourselves but also for other road users.”
I have no objections to prayers, but I can’t just stand when we – Nigerian humans, due to our collective mental laxity and social and moral unconsciousness, simply shift our responsibilities unto the Divine one. Nuts!!!
How can this epidemic be dealt with beyond merely obeying traffic laws and praying?
Some thoughts:
- How about looking at the circumstances surrounding these accidents and find ways to minimize reoccurrences?
- How about making commercial vehicles involved in accidents liable for damages caused? Reparation to victims is in order!
- How about restricting the movement of articulated trucks (trailers and heavy trucks) to specific hours when there are fewer vehicles on the road?
- How about fixing the darn roads, if it means paying tolls and privatizing, so be it. Just fix the darn roads!!!
The list is endless, and what is most required is having the national assembly pass into laws, more bills that deter reckless driving on the road.
We need to tighten the noose a bit and be more proactive; that is how epidemics are contained. 400 deaths per day is not acceptable!
Originally published on Grandiose Parlor by Imnakoya as “400 Nigerians Die from Road Accident Daily?“
Muti This
Smith | Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
This is shameful!
Omotaylor | Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
Here is a related excerpt from Nigerian Vanguard – courtesy of http://www.gamji.com on Late Chief Awoniyi’s death:
“Few, if any, would know that Chief Awoniyi, 75, who passed on November 28 in a London hospital, following an accident on the Abuja-Kaduna road, is one of about 48,000 people who die annually from accidents on Nigerian roads. It is an alarmingly disturbing situation that gets minimal attention because governments, over the years, think road travel is for the poor, one of the reasons the roads are left in their dilapidated state”.
How many more lives will be lost before attention is paid to Nigerian roads? I only recently learnt of the death of a friend of mine from our university days. She was killed in an accident on the Ibadan Lagos express road. I was shocked. May her gentle soul rest in peace.
Note also one of the reasons attributed to the government’s attitude to road repair, -”road travel is for the poor…” I find this unbelievable.
CareTaker | Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
More accidents since Awoniyi’s:
AFP: 20 killed in Nigeria as truck rams into crowd.
Daily Champion: Awka auto crash: Death toll now 22, as Obi consoles survivors.
Nigeria: FRSC And Ember Months Accidents Phenomenon. So shameful that after reading through this article, one remains lost as to what is being done to prevent road accidents – well, beyond all the rhetorics and policy statements. Ahhhh!
Omotaylor | Dec 15, 2007 | Reply
Frustrating, sad and uncanny. We are talking of HUMAN lives here arent we?
Omotaylor | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
And yet more accidents in the run up to Xmas : This excerpt is from today’s Nigerian Daily Independent:
“Yar’Adua’s Convoy In Crash
By Uwakwe Abugu (Benin),Gbenga Faturoti (Osogbo) and Tor Acka (Lafia)
Over the weekend, a total 46 people died in multiple road accidents in Osun, Edo, and Nasarawa States, as well as Abuja, not counting the 17 who perished on the Ibadan-Ife Expressway last Thursday. ”
Read the full post on:http://odili.net/news/source/2007/dec/17/713.html
chiedozie | Mar 6, 2008 | Reply
Nigeria needs to fix their roads. nigerians who drive in nigeria must learn how to follow traffic laws such as driving on the right side of the lane. Nigerians need to start annually or monthly fixing their cars. Don’t wait till its too late. Lastly nigerians need to stop over packing cars, if the car is packed there would be less surviors if there is an accident.
Lucky Brett | Feb 9, 2009 | Reply
funny, actually, that your ‘new’ math can so easilly
calculate an admitted figure of less than five thousand deaths in one year to (quoting your ”You do the math”) just under one hundred and fifty 1housand???
people read, and people believe… so it goes.
explain how if four hundred people die every day, that only four odd thousand died in the whole year of ‘06? seems whatever rules and practices were in place in that year should easilly be made permanent, since 142,000 fewer fatalites occurred than your given figures for EVERY OTHER year!
wait,… this’ll be fun- so, of 146,000 fatalities resulting from 9,000 accidents… hmm… so, each accident really caused at least sixteen deaths?
let’s assume that not all accidents produced the exact 16.22 fatalities, and that half of 9,114 accidents only produced, say TWO fatalites each now we must believe that
4,557 accidents shared 127,772 deaths… (you do the math, lol) THAT’S RIGHT, at least 36 people for each of half of all the accidents (no it’s not, really, YOU do the math).
so if NOT exactly 28.03 people died in each of half of 9114 accidents totalling 146,000 deaths in any given year, and we now accept a more realistic equation that half of the next half of THOSE accidents only had fourteen fatalities (very conservative, don’t you think?) now multiply the remaining fatalities documented (or was that assumed with ‘you do the math’?) after accounting for the two previous realistic common counts, and divide those into the remaining accidents not yet tallied to completion and … you guessed it! ALL the fatalities will happen NEXT THURSDAY! That is… using the kind of reporting that THIS article gives us.
maybe our next article should focus on the numbers of gullible readers that’ll buy into anything printed with numbers, statements, and reports.
sheesh
PRINCE FIDELIS NNADI | May 23, 2010 | Reply
Nigeria leaders are less disturbed by the inceasant killing of its people by road traffic accidents. The National Assembly has lost some of its members through road traffic accidents yet not a single motion has been moved by any of its members to tackle road traffic accident.Former top government officials have either lost their children, wife and relations but the situation remain unchallenged. l pity the Corps Marshal of FRSC who, despite his efforts to improve road safety in Nigeria, has been left on his own by his employers. l suggest he should resign to save himself from further stress and fraustration.
Prince Fidelis Nnadi
APRI Abuja Nigeria