Road Safety Commission To Become An Authority

Mrs Dzifa Attivor, Minister of Transport Thursday said Government was considering converting the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) into an Authority (National Road Safety Authority) in order to empower it.

She noted that with the conversion into an Authority, the outfit would be in a better position to handle issues relating to road safety by enacting rules and also have the power to arrest those who flout such regulations.

Speaking during a courtesy call on her by Mr Osita Chidoka, Corps Marshall and the Chief Executive Officer, Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria, Mrs Attivor noted that about 2,000 deaths were recorded on our roads yearly and called for a concerted effort to reduce it.

She expressed worry about the poor handling of accident victims which sometimes led to their deaths.

Mrs Attivor, who expressed satisfaction with the visit of Mr Chidoka, called for closer collaboration with their Nigerian counterparts as Ghana and Nigeria could set the pace for other West Africans countries to follow.

Mr Chidoka, who is also the President of the West African Road Safety Organisation (WARSO), an organisation comprising all the Road Safety organisations in West Africa, appealed to Ghana to take a look at road safety polices which had worked in Nigeria and endeavour to replicate them here.

He called for a total enforcement of road safety policies in order to minimize fatalities on our roads, and the periodic review of road safety policies to meet current needs.

Mr Chidoka also appealed to Government to endeavour to build hospitals closer to major roads to ensure that people involved in road accidents received the needed healthcare.

He said Nigeria had of late seen reduction in road accidents due to the implementation of the needed measures for road users.

He also called for the integration of database for ECOWAS countries, saying this could lead to the sharing of information on vehicle users, who flouted road safety regulations in ECOWAS countries.

“This would ensure that when a vehicle with a foreign number plate from any ECOWAS country commits a crime in another country and runs away, it would be easier for authorities to trace its whereabouts,” he added.

He urged developing countries, especially those in Africa to come out with implementable measures that would ensure that the purchase of more vehicles by the citizenry did not lead to more deaths on our roads.

“Road safety has become a major menace especially in developing countries, and Africa must work to ensure that we do not take our share,” he said.

Mr Chidoka, who led a five-member delegation, also visited the head office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) where he was given a presentation on activities of the organisation by Mrs Mabel Sagoe, Director for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

The delegation is in the country for a day’s visit to express their appreciation to the President, for honouring an invitation to present a lecture during the celebration of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria last month.