Tuesday, 19th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Group trains corps members on road safety advocacy

By Matthew Ogune, Abuja
15 August 2019   |   3:22 am
Greenlight Initiative has commenced training for 76 Corps members to become traffic safety advocates in Abuja, and Kaduna. Declaring the training opened in Abuja recently, the Group Executive Director, GreenLight Initiative, Simon Obi, said the training was organised to groom young advocates, and also pave the way for other well-meaning Nigerians to create awareness at work, homes, schools, and on the streets.

Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)<br />. PHOTO: NAN

Greenlight Initiative has commenced training for 76 Corps members to become traffic safety advocates in Abuja, and Kaduna.

Declaring the training opened in Abuja recently, the Group Executive Director, GreenLight Initiative, Simon Obi, said the training was organised to groom young advocates, and also pave the way for other well-meaning Nigerians to create awareness at work, homes, schools, and on the streets.

Obi noted that young people possess the needed skills and knowledge, and can undertake real road safety actions in their communities.

Stressing the need for Nigeria to involve and engage the youth since they are more affected by the scourge of road fatalities, Obi maintained that the task of ensuring safety on the roads must not be left to the Federal Road Safety Corps alone.

He explained that the traffic Safety training is a train-the-trainers programme that will empower and improve the capacity of youths to organise and implement programmes geared toward improving road safety while advocating policy shift in the area of traffic safety in Nigeria.

He said participants will be tasked with the responsibility to reach out to their various communities, adding, “Each participant is expected to tender a detailed report of events and activities three months after their training to GreenLight Initiative.”

Obi regretted that Nigeria, among other low and middle-income countries, holds only one per cent of the world’s registered vehicles, but lead the chart with 13 per cent of all traffic fatalities.

“This clearly shows that progress to realise the Global Sustainable Development Goal’s (SDGs) target of 3.6, which calls for a 50 per cent reduction in the number of road traffic deaths by 2020, remains a mirage,” he stated.

About 30 NYSC corps members were trained in Abuja, while 46 other members would also be trained in Kaduna.

0 Comments