LEADERSHIP
November 16, 2007

7 Million Vehicles Operate On Nigerian Roads - FRSC

              Nnamdi Mbawike

The Federal Road Safety Commission yesterday disclosed that Nigeria currently has not less than 7,000,000 registered vehicles operating on its roads.

The Enugu State sector commander FRSC , Luka U. Ikpi, who made this known during the flagging off of the ember months public enlighten campaign at New Market, Enugu on Tuesday, said the road transport system accounted for over 75 per cent of mobility needs in Nigeria.

Ikpi noted that the statistics, coupled with the near collapse of the rail system and the high cost of air travels, have put quite a lot of pressure on the nation’s road transport industry.

According to him, the problem has caused increased accident and fatality rate in the country, adding that the "development should be of great concern to any state government as well as good spirited Nigerians"

The FRSC boss in the state advised road users and motorists obey traffic regulations and road signs inorder to avert accidents.

According to him, the state sector command, in an attempt to ensure better road safety practices now and in the future, has established 25 Road Safety clubs in both primary and post primary schools in the state in order to "catching them young".

" The theme of this year’s road safety ember months campaign is ‘Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals Through Better Road safety Practices .The FRSC is hereby making a clarion and passionate call on all motorists in Enugu and the country at large to uphold the rules and principles of safety to be able to survive any threat to live as a result of road carnages. "Those who are already dead have been debarred from contributing their quota to the development of the country. All of us here can testify to the wanton destruction of lives and property on our roads, which cannot be quantified," he said

He further added "high caliber people and men of proven integrity in both government and private sectors have gotten crashed and died prematurely as a result of road accident. The billions of property that have been destroyed and wasted as a result of motor accident, do not add to the economy nor development of any state, neither the country at large."