In Nigeria, road accident problem is urgent and complicated, daily death range resulting from unnecessary road accidents seriously threatens every family, killing and maiming innocent members. The consciousness and concern about this, by now should be a national issue and should have necessitated a number of national strict decision making. While Nigeria is sacred to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, and landslides and other movement forms called tsunami; disasters from arm robbery, building collapse, road accidents, and village enemies are now cumulatively synonymous with real tsunami- our own tsunamis? My serious concern today is road accidents. Any road accidents always cause invaluable human tragedy, heartache and afflictions, not to talk of the huge economic losses, financial resources, property damage, and costs for medical treatment and rehabilitation. Life has a value, and this is far more than any economic losses, hence the concern.

The road safety situation in Nigeria is an abuse of humanity; the number of daily casualties is incredibly high compared with countries with even worse road conditions and bad safety records. An inconsiderable and inconsistent amount of literature has been published on road accidents in Nigeria, even with Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). These studies fashion that over 25 people dies in road accidents every day, excluding pedestrians’ death – unnecessary deaths! In Nigeria, some road’s pothole is like a fishing pond. The FRSC, the lead Agency in Nigeria on Road Safety administration and management have failed and are still failing in their statutory facsimile functions. They recently publicly claimed road accidents have increased by a whopping 40%, despite we all know accidents are much underreported. Even worrisome is the fact that our accident statistics misconstrue the term fatality and casualty. Who keeps a more realistic and true statistics? The Nigerian Red Cross, FRSC or the Police statistics (normally increased by 75–85% to better reflect inefficiency), the Civil Defence or the Army that also transport road accident victims?

Yesterday, while manoeuvring a potholed road, a tanker driver spilled oil and set up fire that engulfed up to five buses on the road dispatching innocent 70 people to early graves. Irrespective of whether you’re the law maker or breaker we might fall victims, last February, wife of an ex-Senator died in a car accident with her two children and a sister; a federal decision maker of NEMA also died in a car accident with two children and two other passengers; in the same month fourteen footballers dead at Jos Road. Daily-Trust opinion have recently reviewed how “on January 30th 2009 two people were killed in a crash at Abaji, Vanguard of March 30 carries a story that 7 people were killed in a multiple crash in Kano, April 8 – 5 people die in crash at Orile Area of Lagos, Daily Trust of April 6, 2009 carries the story of 17 women of the Catholic Church who died along Makurdi-Enugu Road. Monday April 6, truck crushed two at Suleja, April 20th, ten people roasted to death in ghastly accident along Kano-Kaduna Expressway, vehicle crushes two people at Omoko, kills one in Gwagwalada, car crushes two beggars to death at Ikirun, Car plunges into river at Ahoko, killing one, 19 people dead at Alaide, Makurdi (ThisDay April 6), Daily Trust April 8, 2009, the Corp Marshall states that tankers have killed 5,157 people in different accidents in the last three years, ThisDay April 7, eleven people dead in Ovia River, Edo State accident, Motorist crushed policeman at Kubwa, 3 dead in accident in Ahoko”. Not all these are speed related, although a major Nigerian problem, in short, a huge safety problem, an average Nigeria travelled in excess of the maximum permitted speed and will sometimes will express concern about speeding as a major problem in Nigeria, and still they drive too fast themselves.

The only key to reducing road accidents in Nigeria despite limited budgetary allocation and economic paucity lies in the proper driving and driver’s education on a Typical Nigerian Road in addition to regulatory campaign for road maintenance. How many Nigerian reading this can swear they took a driving test in Nigeria before acquiring a licence? Okay. Let the past be past, but, believe it or not, a 15 years old can walk home today with a driving licence; while most commercial drivers in Nigeria are simply death dispatchers, uneducated about road users, maybe semiskilled, and sometimes drug-influenced. They add salt to the injury by plying Nigeria’s battered potholed roads, unmaintained and stupidly still believe some fetish concoction as death insurance against road accident. The police and FRSC are more interested in road accident investigation than preventing one, knowing full well that a person killed by road accident loses around 36 years on the average, meaning accidents for one year altogether deprive Nigerians of more than 310,800 years to live. If international factors are used for Nigeria accident and casualty numbers, therefore, the costs for road accidents in Nigeria for 2008 will amount to more than USD 35 billion.

The solution is a ‘safety vision’, an overall strategy as an important basis for goals and actions; and not some political public awareness promotion of accident problem and road safety. The Nigerian Federal government, Works and Transport Ministry and the FRSC should come out and make an agreement concerning a road safety project master plan that should be multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary, and should address Nigeria’s concern- a system institutional as well as technical. I think we should address real time Accident Statistics/ Analysis; Safety organisation; Vehicle safety; Driver training testing and licensing; Accident and incident costs, Funding of safety measures; Update Traffic legislation, Introduce Accident information systems; and Safety information, education, and surveillance. The numbers of road accidents depend on the Number of motor vehicle kilometres/hours travelled; Number of kilometres/hours travelled by other road users; and accident and casualty risks, depending on safety actions taken by concern ministry.

Jokes apart, the following proposed strategy if implemented will reduce that total number of killed and seriously injured Nigerian by at least X% by the year 200X and Y% by 20XX. The following are among the most urgently needed actions in Nigeria: (1) Let us establish a high-level National Road Safety Council to support FRSC, and  a special sub-group for road safety information and campaigns, this might also includes reviewing  the function and duties of other bodies and national public safety organisations  involved in road management activities; (2) Improve the cooperation between the Works Ministry, FRSC, VIO,  hospitals, transporters, Civil Defence, the Army, Police, insurance companies concerning accident and casualty reporting to develop one comprehensive annual national statistical yearbook on all accidents and casualties; (3) Lets develop more realistic speed limits to enable us to reduce driving speeds reasonably, especially an urgent strategy to develop methods for black spot management, and creating a special funding for black spots; (4) We need to review the regulations for commercial traffic, and strengthen enforcement of the regulations, as well as regulations concerning the transport of people and goods; (5) We might consider converting FRSC partly to a private driving schools and a review centre for the administrative procedures in connection with driving licences; provide effective surveillance equipment; and change the licence classification.