Group harps road safety, proper container latching

The Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA), has commenced a broad-based programme that would involve critical stakeholders on the importance of safety and proper latching of containers and cargo to trucks before they hit the roads.
   
This move, according to CIoTA President, Bashir Jamoh, is to forestall future accidents caused by fallen containers on Nigerian roads. He stated this while reacting to a recent incident where a container fell from a truck and landed on a commercial vehicle, killing the occupants, including two employees of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
   
Jamoh, who is also the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said he had conversation with the parents of the deceased, and promised that the Agency would intensify its advisory role on transportation matters to rid the sector of unsafe practices, and ensure smooth and safe movement.

He said: “I spoke with both parents (Mrs. Ajoku and Mr. Nnaekpe) of the two youthful FAAN employees whose lives were sadly terminated by the fallen container while in a bus on their way from work. As your President, I extended our collective heartfelt sympathies to them in separate phone conversations.
   
“While comforting them, I also assured them that CIoTA will not only be lending a voice to this matter, but will play its full leadership role of advocating for transportation safety on our roads.”
 
He disclosed that CIoTA has started engaging stakeholders in the industry in a bid to finding lasting solutions to the issue of safety, particularly with regard to proper latching of containers onto articulated vehicles, a major challenge that has faced transportation within the port environment in recent times.
   
Jamoh said: “We have reached out to key state actors with a view to getting their commitments as we strive to work towards a broad-based programme that will involve critical stakeholders on the importance of safely and properly latching containers and cargo to trucks before they leave the marine and other import-export environments for our general road networks; while also addressing the important issue of the competence and mental status of the drivers.”