Why do we need to come up with traffic laws if we are not ready to enforce them? This is the rhytoric question that experts and stakeholders, including the Minister of Works and Housing Mr Babatunde Fashola, repeatedly asked about the need for enforcement if we are not determined to bring sanity back to the roads.
They agreed that only strict enforcement of traffic regulation can drive down attitudinal change on road culture in the country.
Speaking at the Newstrail symposium, with the theme: Driving and the Nigerian in You; which held at the Combo Hall, Lagos Television, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Fashola said until Nigerians decide to do imbibe discipline and do away with the subsisting culture, driving and travel patterns would continue to be problematic and chaotic.
Fashola’s position was coming on the heels of total ban on okada operation by the Lagos State Government on six Local Government Areas and nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state as part of the phased enforcement of the state’s traffic regulation 2018, as amended.
Fashola who was the keynote speaker at the event, said nothing will change on the way chaotic traffic pattern especially in states like Lagos, until Nigerians change their attitude to the way they use the roads.
According to Fashola, human impact, among them illegal parking, street/roadside trading, one-way driving, locking up of street gates poor vehicle maintenance and lack of adequate law enforcement are becoming worrisome causes of challenges on the road.
He said: “We are not scandalized enough about these things and so do not see any need to do anything about them.”
Fashola who disclosed his new love for photography, showed several photograph slides of how the state government and its agencies have continued to look the other way as illegal human activities continues to take its toll on the road.
He called for total enforcement against traffic infractions that would make the roads safer for all road users.
The Co-speaker, who is the Executive Director of Safety Without Borders (SWB), Mr Patrick Adenusi said Nigeria is plagued by thoughtlessness adding that the country could change radically the moment Nigerians decided to start thinking.
He said: “The day we start thinking, we will start experiencing change in fundamental ways. This country can experience a reset within six months if we begin to exercise our thinking faculty and stop reacting as deranged species on the road.”
Arguing that disorder is the order of the day across the country, Adenusi said “we can never have a sane and safe political climate if the nation’s roads remain this chaotic and disorganized.”
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Olusegun Ogungbemide describe as worrisome the attitude of taking law enforcement agents as enemies.
He said it is sad that people now sees law officers as enemies and are ready to attack them on the flimsiest of excuses, despite the fact that they are out to enforce the laws against defaulters.
Lagos State Director of Transport Planning Engr Hafiz Toriola said the state government is committed to deploying technology to reduce human interaction in the area of traffic enforcement in the state.
He urged motorists to voluntarily comply with traffic regulations and not to wait until they got caught in the wrong side of the law with consequences.
He said the government has installed about 5000 CCTV cameras across the state, installed Automatic Number Plate Recognition devices, and deployed body cameras to be used by traffic officers all in an effort to bring sanity to the roads. Earlier, the Newstrail symposium convener, Ms Adetola Kayode, said the event was convened to draw attention to how the Nigerians in everyone have impacted on traffic and the rising road traffic crashes on the roads.