Get Guardian on GoogleAcross the world, inculcating safety culture in children early in life remains one of the cost-effective and high-impact strategies for preventing the young citizens from accidents that could lead to loss of life or permanent disability. It is in the light of this that some recent initiatives of the Lagos State government meant to boost public safety, including the reinvigorated Operation Catch Them Young, are commendable. But for the goal to be achieved, the government has some responsibilities to perform, including strict and unbiased enforcement of the traffic laws.
The initiative at the behest of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and the interactive storytelling programmes in schools all point to a shifting focus toward grassroots education on safety to prevent accidents rather than by pure law enforcement.
By partnering with the children’s educational brand, Lumi, to promote road safety awareness among schoolchildren through storytelling, the state government is not only raising a new generation of responsible road users, it is also boosting the percolation of safety education among young Nigerians.
At the St. Saviour’s School, Ikoyi, where the latest initiative was rolled out, pupils, educators and transport officials were brought together in an engaging programme to teach the children safe road practices, what they need to know about public transportation and responsible travel behaviour from early age.
It was exciting how Lagos State Tourism Ambassador/Founder of the Lumi Initiative, Pelumi Nubi, who is also the first woman to drive solo from London to Lagos, held the pupils spellbound with the story of “Lumi,” a brave little purple car whose adventures were used to communicate vital lessons about safety, courage and resilience.
Nubi recalled how her 74-day journey across Europe and Africa was made possible and successful by determination, preparation and a strong commitment to safety as she navigated through countries, including France, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana and Benin before eventually arriving in Lagos.
The unabating casualty figures arising from road accidents every year remain a major source of concern, especially considering the health and economic toll that maiming and avoidable deaths from the crashes foist on society.
In many parts of the world, countries embed robust road safety in the school curriculum, a development that has proven to dramatically lower traffic accidents among youths. Rather than relying solely on textbook rules, these countries, including the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary, utilise mandatory curricula, simulation parks, and immersive community practices. These should be made to happen in Nigeria where reckless driving is rampant.
Promoting safety culture in children is critical not because it builds from the scratch, but because children process the environment and risks differently than adults. In other words, they have a narrower field of vision to judge the speed and distance of oncoming vehicles. Most times, they are easily distracted or are prone to impulsive movements. But when children are abreast of traffic rules, they are often quick to check and correct errant adults who throw caution to the wind. This can be gleaned from the way they regularly remind their parents to wear seatbelts, put away mobile phones when driving, or stop at zebra crossings, among others.
In the task of building safety culture in the children, the state government should note some factors that may undermine smooth assimilation of safety rules and culture by the teenagers. Prominent among such factors is the flagrant violation of traffic laws daily by commercial drivers, motorbike operators, or even parents. This constant breach simply dilutes the educational message. Therefore, school-based safety education must be reinforced by community enforcement.
The government should note that norms learnt early in life become lifelong habits, hence the children should be taught the effective use of pedestrian bridges, how to wait for signal lights, or the wearing of seatbelts in moving vehicles, among others, to accept these practices as standard routine rather than inconvenient restrictions. On the other hand, teaching a child to use a zebra crossing or a footpath will only be effective if such infrastructure exists around the child’s school or residence, hence the need for the government to provide them or find another way to expose the children to the facilities to boost practical understanding of the messages.
As canvassed by the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, there will be need for more initiatives and partnerships that communicate the important lessons in formats that children can relate to, enjoy and remember. Beyond the lessons, the government must ensure that roads are in good condition because dilapidated roads are a lead-up to accidents. There is a need for stronger collaboration among government agencies, schools and private organisations to ensure that road safety messages are delivered in ways that children can easily comprehend.
The government should also ensure roadworthiness of vehicles, especially commercial vehicles, which it has failed to do seriously thereby inadvertently contributing to road crashes and the attendant loss of precious lives. Commercial drivers are not above the law, contrary to what the government position suggests. Focus has been majorly on private vehicles with a few passengers while commercial buses transporting close to 20 people at a time are left to remain rickety, violate traffic rules and put the lives of passengers at risk.
Lagos State must ensure that road traffic officers are properly trained and their performance and conduct duly monitored to bring back sanity in road traffic management.
