By Nwabueze okonkwo

ONITSHA— AUTHORITIES of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, NRCS, Anambra State chapter, weekend, joined their counterparts all over the world and in 189 United Nation’s member countries to mark this year’s World Accident Day with a minute silence in sympathy of all accident victims in the state, particularly the Sunday, May 31, 2015 Onitsha Petrol Tanker Fire Disaster that roasted 69 persons.

Red Cross, FRSC, NSCDC officials during the memorial ceremony of 69 persons killed at Onitsha petrol tanker fire disaster, after receiving lectures on road safety and disaster management, especially at ember months.

The ceremony, which took place at the NRCS state headquarters, Awka, with series of lectures delivered by officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, and the Nigerian Security and Civil defence Corps, NSCDC, was aimed at enlightening the public on the need to drive safely and avoid road accident during the ember months.

The spectacular aspect of the ceremony was the observation of a minute silence for the departed souls of the  69 victims of Onitsha petrol tanker fire disaster and other accident victims in all parts of the state.

The minute silence was observed at the middle of a keynote address presented by the state chairman of NRCS, Justice Paul Obidigwe (retd), Chief Justice emeritus of the state, during the opening ceremony of the event, entitled: ‘Sanity On Our Roads,’ SOOR, with a theme: ‘Safety on our  roads and traffic control.’

At the event during which David Egejuru, the Public Education Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Nnewi Unit Command and Oaihimire Irabor, the Second-in-Command of Disaster Management Department of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Anambra State command, delivered elaborate lectures on road safety and disaster management.

Justice Obidigwe recalled that it was through joint collaboration between the NRCS and other security agencies that they all responded to the ugly petrol tanker fire incident at Upper Iweka.

Obidigwe noted that NRCS had over the years sustained its road safety club project tagged: ‘Safety On Our Roads, SOOR, to enlighten their teeming volunteers/members and the entire populace in the 21 local government areas of the state on safe driving tips/ techniques that included: Observing road signs/traffic light, avoiding telephone calls while driving, having emergency safety kits like first aid box, reflective triangle and child safety kit.

He added that proactively, the state government had stepped in swiftly to address positive measures of limiting road carnages in the state.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the state vice chairman of the society, Prof. Peter Emeka Katchy, noted that the World Accident Day was marked all over the world and in 189 member nations of the United Nations,  to remind the road users, rail users and aircraft users all over the world on the need to observe safety rules and regulations to reduce accidents.

According to Katchy: “This ember months are the period of road safety challenges, avoidance of accidents, traffic congestions, hardship, reckless driving, touting, harassment and endangering the lives of commuters, adding, officials of FRSC and NSCDC were assembled by the NRCS to lecture them on the rudiments of road safety, safety conducts and the provision of traffic control to create orderliness and reduce the carnages and hardship on our roads, mostly within the period of mass exodus for Xmas and New Year celebrations.

He condemned the attitude of those he identified as self-acclaimed Very Important Personalities, VIPs, who drive recklessly while blowing sirens and chasing away other road users out of the way and urged such persons to do a rethink in the interest of the masses and themselves.

Egejuru of the FRSC, in his own lecture, advised road users to avoid over-loading, over-speeding, answering phone calls while driving and driving while drunk, adding that they should equally beware of using expired tyres.

Egejuru noted that it is always better to arrest a road user and prosecute him for road traffic violation than to rescue him from an accident scene where he is critically injured and even dead as a result of his involvement in a road crash.    Irabor, on his part, noted that apart from road accident, there are also environmental disasters like flood, erosion menace, building collapse and other areas where the emergency department of the Civil Defence Corps usually go for rescue missions.