We don’t have full record of road crashes in Nigeria, says FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said it has no full record of road traffic crashes in the country.

The corps, which decried the problem of data management in the country, said there is need for robust and efficient data management and harmonisation among ministries, department and agencies saddled with the responsibilities of transport management.

These were the assertions of Corps Marshal, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, at the inaugural lecture series of the School of Transport (SOT), Lagos State University (LASU), in Ojo, yesterday.

Besides, the corps also condemned the use of commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, stating that Okada has no role in the transportation agenda of developed society.

Oyeyemi bemoaned the lawlessness of the riders on major roads, adding that the lack of effective transportation model has resulted in the influx of commercial motorcycles across the country.

He said: “If I have my way, I will want okada to be banned in states across the country and charge governments in all state to put in place proper transportation system to eradicate the lawlessness on our roads.”

Oyeyemi who spoke on the theme, ‘Transportation, road safety management towards achieving the sustainable development goals’, also advised the Lagos State government to redouble efforts on its inter-modal system of transportation, as a solution to the gridlock in the state.

According to him, the inter-modal system includes railway, inner waterways, pipeline, air transport system, among others.

Oyeyemi said if the intra-modal system was effective, most Nigerians would not depend on road transportation but on the alternative system, adding that the problem of poor transportation system was as a result of infrastructure that could not match with the increasing population.

Earlier in his remarks, Dean, SOT, LASU, Prof. Samuel Odewumi, said government should pay greater attention to offering palliatives on some major roads. He said bad spots are like clots in the human blood arteries, which often results in traffic cardiac arrests.

The ministry of transport has documented the types and location of such points so that for the state to enjoy shorter travel time they must be cleared.