Introduction
During the week, the news broke of an accident in Benue State that claimed the lives of church women who were travelling in a group on a bus. This incident is not uncommon. Nigerian roads are perhaps one of the deadliest in the world. The quality of Nigerian roads has been rated 2.5 on a scale of 1 (low) and 7 (high) with data drawn from road quality indicator component of the Global Competitiveness Index published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Unsafe roads do not only pose danger to travellers but also damage the economy.
To make the roads safe is the duty of Government. There are three critical aspects of road transportation that the Government must look after:
1 Road conditions – the infrastructure concession regulatory commission (ICRC) provides data that Nigeria has 195,000km road network of which only 60,000km is tarred, leaving a whooping 135,000km untarred. This is perhaps the worst record for untarred roads for an economy of 200million people.
2 Vehicle inspection – all vehicles on the roads are expected to be regularly inspected, tested and certified that they meet set vehicle safety, exhaust emissions, and roadworthiness standards. Although vehicle inspection structures are in operation in Nigeria, they are not effective given the quality of junks moving on Nigerian roads.
3 Driver certification – a driver licence system that ensures only trained and tested drivers are permitted to operate on the roads ensures road operators are all fully abreast of the highway code, speed management, not to drink and drive, requirement for insurance, not using phone, use of seatbelts etc. In Nigeria, the driver licencing system is broken as people obtain licences without ever sitting behind a vehicle wheel to drive.
All the above factors contribute to the terrible road accident, casualty and fatality records in Nigeria.
Recommendations
1 To minimise the crashes and wanton destruction of lives and properties on Nigerian roads, the Governments at all levels must take the following steps:
2 Concession all the major roads to investors to build and operate to recover their investments through a tolling system. Even rich countries with high employment and income levels like the US, UK , etc , have tolled roads with the revenue used to maintain the roads and construct new ones.
3 Government must take immediate steps to install a national database of vehicles. Police cars to be mounted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology that detects vehicles that do not have valid motor vehicle inspection and certification certificates. The system of mounting roadblocks in Nigeria must be discontinued as it does not fit modern day policing.
4 Government must ensure that only trained, tested and certified drivers are allowed on the roads. Effective use of ANPR to detect vehicles with the registered owner not having a valid driving licence to be implemented.
5 Self help – as Government is slow to respond to the demands of road infrastructure, vehicle testing and driver certification, road users will help themselves by operating a journey management system to look after themselves.
6 Ultimate solution – the best solution to restore sanity on the roads is by Nigerians voting into office in 2023 leaders at all levels who will deliver good governance including the recommendations made above.
Conclusion
Driving is supposed to be fun but not in Nigeria. Elsewhere, governments create sanity on the roads through a strict regime of enforcement, which not only puts road users in check but also generates a lot of revenue for Government through the administration of fines. The Nigerian Government needs to give the same priority to the roads as they did to COVID because more Nigerians are dying on the roads than COVID deaths!
References:
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Nigeria/roads_quality/#:~:text=Nigeria%3A%20Quality%20of%20roads%2C%201,from%202019%20is%202.5%20points
https://www.icrc.gov.ng/135000km-road-network-nigeria-un-tarred-icrc/
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