WE MUST PUT AN END TO ROAD VIRUS -AREMU

WE MUST PUT AN END TO ROAD VIRUS -AREMU

Zainab Tanimu

Kaduna, North – West, Nigeria

A call has been made on the need for the federal government to put the necessary machineries in motion to end the increasing rate of road accidents on our roads.

Most roads in Nigeria are said to be unmotorable.

The General Secretary of National Union of Textile ,Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Comrade Issa Aremu made this call while on condolence visit to members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ) Kaduna over the loss of

the former Treasurer and Secretary of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State Council, Chief Dominic Uzu, whose sad event occurred on Tuesday February 4, 2020 following a tragic fatal accident along Kaduna-Zaria Highway.

Nigeria today he said qualifies as an unofficial global capital of “road accidents”.

“Every year, over 39,000 Nigerians die from road crashes. In the 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated road traffic fatalities in Nigeria at 39,802, while the estimated rate per 100,000 deaths stood at 21.4. Nigeria losses more humans on road accidents than 11,310 deaths reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone due to Ebola epidemic!

When accidents are re-occurring all the time, they are no longer accidents but incidents as such the government needs to do the needful.

“We need an emergency on road management.” He said.

Speaking further,

“We must halt this road-terrorism, or better still road virus called accident. An accident is defined as happening “unexpected” or “unplanned”.

But according to the Zaria Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Abubakar Murabus-Tata, the accident which killed Dominic was as a result of over-speeding, involving two vehicles, (a DAF truck and a Toyota Hiace commercial Bus) and bad road (potholes).

“Most roads are unmotorable. Drivers are reckless and often our road safety officials are not on duty. When accidents prove addictive as they are in Nigeria, they are no more “accidental”.

“These “accidents” are certainly not inevitable. It’s time President Muhammadu Buhari declared emergency on Federal roads.

“There must be a time frame to fix all major highways and halt the ongoing road-murders.”

He described late Dominic as a tested journalist whose memories will continue to linger in the minds of many.

“Comrade Dominic Uzu was a tested Journalist. His tragic death was a great loss to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and his family and all of us his comrades and friends. We all bear testimony to his tremendous achievements and contribution to the growth and development of NUJ in Kaduna State.

We must damn road accidents. He said.

“The best way to mourn Comrade Dominic Uzu is to collectively put an end to cheap and callous wastage of human lives, (low or high alike) on our roads. Tears are not just enough. There is an urgent need to rebuild our roads and ensure safety rules are observed with a view of reducing accidents on our roads.

Decrying the situation, victims of accident he said should not be reduced to statistics.

Victims of accidents Comrade Aremu Emphasized are fathers , mothers and children He lamented.

“Seeing the poor survivors and dependents of victims of roads accidents should make us change our perception of accident victims as mere statistics! He said.

“In the case of Comrade Dominic Uzu he left a wife, 4 children and several relatives and several colleagues in NUJ. The point cannot be overemphasized: Accident victims are agonizing humans (mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, bread winners,) with all the valued human relationships suddenly terminated on account of avoidable “accidents”. A visit to a typical emergency/casualty ward in our hospital shows that road accidents do as much violence as terrorism does. Sudden deaths of working journalists and Nigerians in general further point to crisis of road governance in Nigeria.”