By Nnamdi Ojiego

Following the perennial traffic congestion across Lagos, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, has reiterated its determination to entrench sanity on Lagos roads by ensuring that every traffic offender is punished in accordance with the law of the land.

The agency disclosed that it is putting measures in place to ensure that both its officers and road users comply with rules and regulations guiding the roads.

Speaking during an interactive session with members of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, LLTC, the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State governor on Transport education, Dr Mariam Masha said that road safety is the responsibility of every road user.

According to her, what LASTMA is doing was part of the all inclusive approach the state government is adopting to address the challenges of traffic management in Lagos State by using education to enlighten people, and interacting with them and letting them know how its agencies like LASTMA is carrying out their primary roles.

Dr Masha also explained that LASTMA’s meeting with various groups and organisations was introduced as a medium through which LASTMA officials interact and share ideas with the members of the public.

She expressed satisfaction that the initiative was providing the people with an opportunity to appreciate more, their own responsibility when it comes to being a good road user.

“The essence of our visit to a group like this was to give us a feedback on how to serve the society better and for us to tell them what we go through and what is expected of them,” she said.

The SSA explained that they have put in place, a structured programme that cut across all strata of the society to educate and enlighten the people on traffic management.

“We go to motor parks, clubs and schools to educate the people on how to be good road users because, we believe that is another way of traffic management. When you educate and enlighten people, they are better informed and it makes the work of traffic personnel easier,” she explained.

However, top LASTMA officials used the meeting to discuss some of the causes of traffic jams, the challenges and what the agency is doing to tackle them. According to the traffic officials, most of the causes are man-made.

They included indiscipline, impatience, illegal parking, flagrant disobedience of traffic laws by some uniformed men, among others which they claimed have led to series of accidents.

The General Manager, LASTMA, Edu Babatunde assured that measures were being put in place to ensure that traffic offenders are brought to book. “Plans are already in place to check the overzealousness and sharp practices of some of our officials. We are equally working in-house to ensure that we don’t go out to sell ourselves alone but also ensure that our men out there do what is right,” he said.

Responding, the President of the LLTC, Mr Isaac Yunusa described the visit as timely and needed and called on the agency to make it a part of their programmes to be carried out on regular basis.

He said: “Everybody in Lagos is very interested in the issue of traffic management. So, this type of visit should be an on-going thing because, it provides opportunity for LASTMA and the public to interact in order to get feedback from each other,” he stated, assuring that the club would assist by further educating their members, family and friends to be law-abiding and obey traffic rules and regulation all the time.