Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has directed a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s road safety measures to tackle the increasing number of road accidents. The move aims to address long-standing road safety challenges and significantly reduce road traffic fatalities nationwide.
The directive came on Friday during a meeting with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) leadership, headed by Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The Vice President emphasised the importance of immediate action to enhance road safety and is set to inaugurate the National Road Safety Advisory Council, which will be tasked with halving traffic accidents by 2030.
During the meeting, VP Shettima underscored the need for stricter adherence to traffic laws, pointing to the alarming rise in road accidents both on highways and in urban areas due to a lack of discipline on the roads.
The Vice President, who chairs the National Road Safety Advisory Council, stressed the importance of technology in improving traffic law enforcement. He noted that in places like Dubai and the UK, road traffic violators are tracked via car number plates, and fines are directly deducted from their bank accounts, promoting a culture of law obedience.
Drawing comparisons with security advancements in Enugu State, Shettima praised the governor’s efforts to establish a surveillance network that monitors urban areas and forests, saying, “The security architecture there is an example we can follow.”
FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed noted that the establishment of the National Road Safety Advisory Council is a key component of the updated Nigeria Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030.
The council’s mandate will include setting national road safety targets, coordinating efforts between federal, state, and local governments, and overseeing strategic initiatives. Its members will comprise six governors representing the geo-political zones, federal ministers, the National Security Adviser, and the President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).