Young Nigerians Showcase Road Safety Solutions at VIA National Competition 2025

Bennett Oghifo

The National Finals of the 2025 VIA Programme for Safe Mobility took place today at Eko Tower 2, Victoria Island, Lagos, bringing together students from Lagos, Rivers, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to showcase innovative solutions for safer school mobility.

The VIA Programme, launched in Nigeria in May 2025 by TotalEnergies Nigeria in collaboration with NNPC, supported by the TotalEnergies Foundation, and implemented by GreenLight Initiative, is a global youth-focused road safety education initiative designed to empower students as advocates for safer roads and communities.

Over the past months, 30 public secondary schools and 600 students across Lagos, Rivers, and the FCT participated in the programme, which included classroom sessions, risk-mapping walks, and creative advocacy campaigns. State-level competitions held earlier this year produced the nine finalists showcased at today’s National Competition.

At the National Finals, students presented their projects through artistic posters, poetry, drama, songs, and news presentations, addressing critical issues such as pedestrian safety, speeding, drunk driving, and safe school zones. Their recommendations reflected real risks identified in their school communities and highlighted practical solutions for safer mobility.

The VIA Programme in Nigeria involves collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), State Ministries of Education, and public schools. Its core objective is to raise awareness about road safety risks, promote youth-led solutions, and reduce road traffic crashes and fatalities, especially among school children.

The winning school from today’s National Finals will advance to the Regional Finals starting on November 25, 2025, with the chance to qualify for the International VIA Finals on December 2, 2025, where schools from around the world will compete for global recognition.

By investing in road safety education and empowering young people, the VIA Programme continues to play a pivotal role in shaping a generation of responsible road users and advocates for safer, more sustainable communities.

In his opening remarks the Corps Marshal Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed said, “This gathering is not just a competition, it is a convergence of months-long ideas, innovation, and youthful creativity aimed at confronting one of the most pressing challenges of our time; road traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities. It is a culmination of strategic efforts on addressing the core and fundamental issues to secure a better road safety in the country.”

He quoted global statistics from the latest WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, which says road crashes remain one of the leading causes of death among young people, particularly those between the ages of 15 and 29. Nigeria, like many other developing nations, continues to face the burden of these preventable tragedies. It is therefore both timely and necessary that we provide platforms such as this, where young people can be engaged, empowered, and encouraged to become ambassadors of road safety and generally safe mobility.

The Corps Marshall, represented by Corps Commander, Kehinde Hamzat, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp, said, “VIA Programme, initiated and championed by Greenlight Initiative in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps, is an exemplary model of youth-focused intervention in road safety management under Pillar Four (4) of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. The programme aligns seamlessly with the mandate of the Federal Road Safety Corps to save lives, ensure safe roads, and promote a culture of shared responsibility among all categories of road users. Furthermore, the Corps’ partnership with VIA Greenlight Initiative situates perfectly with our core mandate in collaborating with Bodies, Agencies, and Groups engaged with road safety management locally and internationally as well as building global partnership in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17.

“By harnessing the creativity of our youths and channeling their energy into problem-solving competitions like this, we are shaping a new generation of citizens that values safety, discipline, and innovation. For the Federal Road Safety Corps, this programme is not just an activity. It is part of a broader strategy in line with both the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021–2030), the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) and Nigeria’s commitment to reducing road traffic fatalities and serious injuries by at least 50 per cent within the period in the framework of the Safe Systems Approach to road safety management.

“The initiative also supports our on-going Safe School Policy, Youth Road Safety Clubs and community outreach programmes that place young people at the center of road safety advocacy. I wish to particularly commend Greenlight Initiative, TotalEnergies and all other stakeholders for their vision, commitment, and unwavering support in ensuring that safe mobility is not treated as an abstract goal, but as a practical, inclusive, and transformative movement.”