Our (Viewers corner) preliminary study in the country (Nigeria) has shown that so many factors are responsible for road accidents in Nigeria. Firstly, lots of people do not obey simple traffic instructions. It took some citizens of the country (Nigeria) just few days to learn how to drive through a roadside driving schools and then jump onto the road immediately without proper knowledge of traffic rules and regulations. Also when they are driving, majority of them are not driving within the marked lines on the roads but if they had gone to a proper and recognized driving schools, certain safety rules and regulations would be thought. Again some of the vehicles in Nigeria are not road worthy and instead of these road safety officers controlling them by putting them off road, they would prefer to collect some bribes from the owners of the vehicles and allow them to ply the Nigerian roads which is very risky. Most roads in Nigeria are not passable, lots of potholes which should have been repaired to a good standard by the past governments were completely ignored because of corruption and the I don’t care attitude on the part of the leaders. These problems we mentioned here are the main reasons accidents on Nigerian roads are on the increase and has taken lots of lives. Therefore we (Viewers corner) are suggesting and at the same time appealing to the federal government of Nigeria to carry out reforms on these aspects, please repair Nigerian roads by giving specifications to the construction companies who have been awarded the contracts for constructing roads in Nigeria so that they can construct real standard roads for the Nigerian road users. The establishment of adequate driving schools in the country where driving lessons should be thought and supervised is very important including all vehicles properly checked before plying Nigerian roads. It was also reported that some police officers and the road safety officers are extorting money from drivers on daily basis and allowing whoever that is able to pay their fees to go freely without proper checks which is very wrong.
In Nigeria, lots of people are driving without drivers license, sincerely in this situation anyone caught should be sent to jail without option of fine. We also observed that some would drink lots of alcohol and start driving, this is very wrong and anyone found guilty on this offence should also go to jail without any option of fine and the person’s license should be seized. This is because if anyone who is in the influence of alcohol or any other substance could do the unthinkable thereby putting his or her life including other innocent ones in danger. Therefore the Nigerian government should have strict laws regulating the practice of driving generally on Nigerian roads. Drivers should always maintain speed limits at all times, this is very important and if some of these issues are properly follow or taken care of in an honest manner, the road accidents in Nigeria would be reduced to the lowest level.
Source: Viewers Corner News.