ON THE DRIVING SCHOOL KILLER

Regulators should do more to curb reckless driving

In the past two weeks, the alarm clock of a mother of four, Amarachi Promise Esomonu, has been ringing needlessly. The alarm used to rouse her from sleep to prepare the children (aged three, four and 10) for school. But it is now of no use as there are no children going to school anymore. Esomonu recently lost her three children in an unfortunate accident in the Ogbunabali area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.A lady on a driving lesson reportedly veered off the public road and rammed into the Esomonu family house, killing her three children instantly. A viral video of the distraught woman was seen sobbing uncontrollably and seeking help. The State Police Command has ordered an investigation into the tragedy, but that does not lessen the grief of family members and public outrage.

While we commiserate with the Esomonu family for this tragic loss, the incident has again brought to fore the needless waste of lives across the country through traffic accidents. But this also brings into sharp focus the regulatory environment. In societies where people live according to law,driving lessons are conducted by accredited driving schools in specified locations. Even here, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has a list of accredited driving schools where learners are formally trained, certified before a driver’s license is issued. But many times, the law is observed in the breach. Across the country today, driving lessons are done anywhere, and licenses can be issued to anyone as long as the right “fees” are paid. According to reports, the Esomonu children were killed in front of their home, and curiously, after dark around 8.30pm. What was a learner doing on the wheel at such a time of the night?

Meanwhile, beyond ensuring justice for the family of the deceased children, there is an urgent need to curb a reckless driving culture occasioned by excessive speeding, making calls or texting on cell phones while on the wheel, and drunk driving. In recent years, the FRSC has identified the behaviour of road users as one of the reasons for high fatalities in road crashes that are making Nigerian roads a theatre of blood. Vehicles that carry passengers beyond their capacity as well as trailers overloaded with people and livestock are vulnerable to high-impact accidents that occur almost daily. Sign-light and route violations, dangerous overtaking, and mechanical failures such as brake malfunctions have also significantly contributed to fatalities.

There is also the issue of seat belts which many don’t use. Seat belts are not mere ornaments but are standard safety equipment of every modern car to cushion the impact of a car crash on the occupants, particularly the driver and the passenger in the front seat. Indeed, there’s hardly a day when some families are not thrown into mourning because of road accidents. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 1,347 people were killed and thousands more were injured in 2,720 road crashes nationwide in just the first quarter of 2026. Within the same period last year some 1,593 Nigerians lost their lives in road traffic crashes. The FRSC notes that the country averages around 5,000 deaths and 30,000 injuries annually. This is tragic and undesirable.  

While we commend initiatives like the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (2021-2030) and the National Crash Reporting Information System (NACRIS) by the FRSC, more should be done to prevent the needless deaths on our roads. But the Esomonu tragedy should compel a searchlight on the operations of driving schools in the country. No driving learner should be on the wheel at night. If there are no guidelines to that effect, the FRSC should look into it. Our roads should not be made available for potential killers.

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 ZARIA AS CONTINUITY REDEFINED  

 Zaria, jewel of Northern heritage, is being rebuilt, and repositioned, argues ZUBAIR ABDURRA’UF IDRIS 

Every son and daughter of Zaria deserves more than promises etched on paper — they deserve progress they can see, touch, and live. For three remarkable years, that vision has walked the streets of Zaria under the steady, people-first leadership of Governor Senator Uba Sani. To declare “Zaria is forgotten” is not just inaccurate; it is to willfully close one’s eyes to a city that is being rebuilt, brick by brick, heart by heart.

Within the hallowed walls of Sir Kasim Ibrahim House, Kaduna’s seat of governance, the last three years have been defined by a relentless drive for renewal. Governor Uba Sani’s _Rural and Urban Transformation Agenda_ has been more than a slogan. It is a covenant. It earned him the revered title “Apostle of Rural and Urban Transformation” — _Limanin Karkara da Birane_ — and Zaria, the crown jewel of Northern heritage, stands as one of its grandest beneficiaries. This is governance that does not seek applause in headlines, but reverence in results.

For too long, Unguwar Magajiya bore the scars of neglect — roads that turned to rivers with every rainfall, paths that tested patience more than tires. Today, those stories belong to the past.  

The entire Unguwar Magajiya township road network has been reconstructed from foundation to asphalt, crowned with functional drainage that now channels floodwaters away from homes and businesses.  

But it did not stop there. Link roads radiating from Unguwar Magajiya through the historic corridors of Zaria City — Limanci down to Kasuwar Amarilu, stretching through Unfuwar Liman to Albatkawa — were graded, stabilized, and asphalted under the bold “Legacy Cities” program. Zaria was not pushed to the margins. Zaria was placed at the center of the map, where it belongs. This is not continuity abandoned. This is continuity redefined.

A hospital is not just mortar and paint; it is hope made visible. At *General Hospital Zaria*, also known as *Gambo Sawaba General Hospital*, wards once worn by time have been rehabilitated, equipped with modern medical tools, and staffed with more doctors, nurses, and technicians to meet the needs of a growing population.  

Across Zaria LGA, Primary Health Centres — the first line of defense for every mother and child — were transformed. Solar power now keeps vaccines cold through the night. Boreholes now bring clean water to waiting patients. Drug revolving funds now ensure shelves are stocked when emergencies strike. This is access. This is dignity. This is government that meets people where they are.

Zaria has always been a city of scholars, and the last three years have honored that legacy. Public primary and secondary schools across the metropolis were renovated with new classrooms, modern furniture, and water + sanitation facilities under the World Bank-backed AGILE and IDEAS programs. Children now learn in spaces that inspire, not depress.  

At *KASU Zaria Campus*, the state government reinforced infrastructure and student welfare, ensuring our tertiary institutions remain engines of innovation. Beyond classrooms, National Assembly members complemented these efforts with constituency scholarships and ICT training hubs — planting seeds of knowledge that will outlive us all.

Zaria’s transformation extends beyond the obvious. Solar streetlights now glow along suburban roads, making nights safer. Rural electrification projects have brought power to communities long in darkness. Through KADSAP and IFAD, Zaria farmers received inputs, training, and market linkages — because an empowered farmer is a stronger economy. Water supply interventions are steadily easing the burden on households across the city. These are the quiet revolutions that change lives without making noise.

Let it be said plainly: those peddling the “Zaria Left Behind” narrative are economical with the truth. Their urgency appears driven more by data bundles and the mechanics of social media engagement than by facts on the ground. Meanwhile, Governor Uba Sani has administered with fairness, balance, and an inclusive spirit that reminds every community: your vote matters beyond election day. “Consolidation and Continuity” was never abandoned. It was sharpened — refocused on the basics that matter most: roads our people ply, clinics that save lives, and schools that shape futures.

Is Zaria where it should be? Not yet — and honesty demands we say so. The ancient city still yearns for the revival of its industrial giants: *Zarinject, the Ginnery, and other factories* that once gave it economic muscle. The much-touted “Zaria Water Project” under the previous El-Rufa’i administration remains, in the words of many citizens, “a sham rainbow rhetoric” — beautiful in promise, absent in delivery. Those are fights for tomorrow.

But to pretend that “nothing has been done” today is to insult the intelligence of every Zaria resident who now drives on smoother roads, whose children learn in better classrooms, and whose sick find care in revamped clinics. Exclusion? No. Zaria is not excluded. Zaria is moving. Zaria is rising.

Let the conversation evolve. Let us retire the tired lament of “we’ve been left behind” and embrace the urgent, optimistic call of “let’s do more, faster.” Zaria’s history is too grand for victimhood. Its future is too bright for cynicism.  

Under Uba Sani, a new vision at Sir Kasim Ibrahim Imam House continued evolve, Zaria is not forgotten. It is being remembered, rebuilt, and repositioned for greatness.

  Idris is a Public Affairs Analyst and Board Member Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA)