A stakeholder in the nation’s road and transportation sector, Adenusi Patrick has said over 36,000 deaths from road crashes occur in the nation annually. This contradicts monthly figures of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC, which say that between 13 and 20 lives are lost to road traffic crashes.
However, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics says no fewer than 2,673 people died in road accidents in Nigeria between January and June. This implies an average of 15 people died each day in the first six months of 2017 in road accidents across the country.
Adenusi, a safety advocate and a member of a non-governmental organisation, Safety Beyond Borders, made his views known at a one-day forum organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA).
He said, “Not less than 100 persons die daily across the length and breadth of Nigeria roads as a result of accidents,†explaining that fatigue was a major cause of most road traffic crashes.
According to him, “Over 100 die as a result of road accident in Nigeria daily. You would recall that 17 years ago, we were told that 65 people were killed daily. The question is what has changed?â€
Adenusi said it was regrettable that over the years, both the Nigeria Police and the FRSC have not been able to work together on generating accurate and uniform, but reasonably acceptable data on number of road users that loses their lives. Â
He called on corporate organisations in Nigeria to support the on-going effort by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to curtail road accidents across the country. Adenusi described road safety campaign as a collective responsibility, noting that corporate organisations and religious leaders have critical roles to play.
“The FRSC needs more vehicles and equipment. The financial institutions such as Banks and Insurance firms are not supporting the activities of FRSC. “The financial institutions should understand that it is in their interest for people to stay alive. That is the only way they can make more profit,†he said.
