By Anozie Egole
Nseobong Akpabio, M.O.N, the Lagos State sector commander, Federal Road Safety Commission bares his mind on the new Lagos state traffic laws by Governor. Babatunde Fashola. He said that the law is imperative in the state to save lives that are lost as a result of road accident.

He also reassures of his command’s commitment and support to the state government in the awareness and implementation of this new traffic law. The Akwa-Ibom born commander also clears the dust arising as a result of how aware the masses are about this law. The following are excerpts of the interview with our correspondent.

Recently, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) signed into law new traffic law as a measure to address the gridlock on Lagos roads. This has been generating some controversies from the road users which some have described as a draconian law, what is your take on that?

Well, I don’t really know what they mean by that word but all I want to Say is that, a responsible government like the one we have in Lagos state will not do anything that is against to the well-being of its residents. The new Lagos law didn’t come from the moon.

From Left: FRSC Assistant Corps Commander, Ojota Unit, Mr Leye Adegboyega; Lagos FRSC Sector Commmander, Mr Nseobong Akpabio, and Sector Head, Training, Standard and Certification, Mr Oseni Sulaiman, during the Sector Commander visit to Ojota Unit in Lagos recently

The state house of assembly called for a public hearing to suggest and seek people’s opinion on the issue on what they want to do. And a lot of people attended the public hearing.

Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) participated fully in the public hearing. And after the public hearing, they came up with a bill that was signed into law which is an ideal legal apparatus that will enhance, checkmate and also change the negative attitude of the road users.

The complains if any can come from any member of the society, I will say. Since nobody is perfect here on earth, and there is nothing you will do that people will not complain? So to me, it is a welcomed development. But that will not in any way make the government to now say, don’t border again, go and kill yourselves, no. the new traffic law has come to stay.

When UN realized that a lot of people were dying on the road, as far back as 2004, the African Union (AU), mandated the various nation member states to look critically into what they can do to reverse the trend of road traffic crashes. So African ministers held a meeting about that in Accra Ghana and they came up with what they call, Accra declaration on road safety. That was done to assist member states to reverse the trend.

The bottom line was that, it was decided that between 2004-2015, something must be done. So Between, 2007-2015, every member state must reduce road traffic crash by 50%. That means if by national data, 2000 people die because of road crash in 2007, by 2015, it must be reduced by half. So everybody must work towards that.

There must be a legal battle to work towards what you want to do. And you must review some of the outdated laws. The Lagos laws that were in existence, I am fully aware that the law was enacted in the 50’s or so with about several amendments yet, it did not meet up with the contemporary society we have like in Lagos State.

Do you think this law will address the cause of road crash?

Yes, it will contribute significantly to that because, we are working on attitude. The government is not thinking on the fine/punishment, but we are worried so much about that. But, check how much will be the cost if the driver crashed and kill somebody? So, the government is looking critically not at the fine, but at the attitude change of the road users.

The government wants a voluntary compliance from the road users. If everybody, I mean the road users will voluntarily comply to use the road responsibly, I am telling you that the issue of arrest will not be seen at all. So we believe quiet well that the new Lagos state traffic law will change the attitude of the road users.

If as you are leaving your house, you board a bus and  you are telling the driver please as you are driving , obey the traffic laws do not put me into trouble the driver must listen.

This country must change. So people must start appreciating what the government wants to do. It is not the fine that matters, we want voluntary compliance.

During your visits to the Governor on the new law recently, you promised that the corps will give the Governor 100% support, what are you doing to sensitize the road users?

Here, you do not say what am I my doing, rather, what we are doing is to join hands with the government in awareness creation. I have fifteen unit commands here in Lagos State and the unit commands cut across all the local governments in the state.

And because of this, on a daily basis, our personnel work with the stakeholders, NGO’s government oficials and community leaders  in various localities across the state for the awareness. I had a meeting recently with the Vehicle Inspectors Officer (V.I.O) to know what we should do. I also had meeting last week with the state executive Gov. on the same awareness campaign. These are the packages we are putting in place for the awareness.

Again from next week, 10th of this month, I will call you to join us. We are going to carry out a one week public awareness campaign in Lagos State. Nobody will be arrested in the state by FRSC to go and pay fine for a week. It is part of creating the awareness.

So from 10th till the week end, all our patrol teams will be involved in the awareness creation. Not only for Lagos State traffic laws, but all factors that cause road traffic crashes. If we ask the Lagos State government to pay FRSC for the awareness campaign, it will cost a huge amount of money but, it is our own contribution to appease the state.

Some of us are from other states but we live here in Lagos. So, we must assist the state government to succeed. Lagos is very vital to Nigeria and is also vital to you. So all hands must be on deck to deliver the state and we must deliver Lagos State.

There is this problem when people sit at the comfort of their houses and get drivers licence. Some of them cannot even differentiate the road signs. What are you doing to streamline the issuance of the driver’s license?

That was a story of yesterday. It is no longer a story of today. The corps marshal said that one of the things he is going to ensure is to restore the integrity of the driver’s license. I am telling you today, nobody can sit at home and get a license in Nigeria.

All applicants, irrespective of status, must personally go through the screening processes. You start with filling the forms online and the manual and you must go to the V.I.O. they must test the applicant.

If the V.I.O says no, you cannot drive or that you failed the examination you come back the next time. After that, you go to the state licensing office and make all the necessary payments and the forms will be forwarded to FRSC. Before the arrival, we have your details and it is on the internet where all the units in the country can access it.

The applicant must also pass through what we call biometric data collection. All applicants must pass through this process. In this one, we will take the finger print and picture of the applicant. That biological capture will be transfered online to our central unit for verification and crosscheck how many times an applicant has applied for license before.

This thing will also help to check that there will no clash of identities and details. What helps most in checking all these things is the finger print because, there are no two individuals in this world that will have the same finger print. So, this new system has no vacancy for touts and third party. There is no way somebody will sit down at home and wait for driving license, days are gone when such things happened.

Don’t you think that banning of motorcyclists and street traders by the new Lagos State traffic law will cause much economic crises considering the economy of the country and the level of unemployment?

No that’s not correct. The government of Lagos State is not banning Okada riders entirely in the state. But I think what they are saying is that there are some places that Okadas should not ply. Nigeria is lucky to be one of the countries that have a mega city and Lagos is one of the megacities in the country. So the government is doing everything possible to keep the state to the standard of a city.

Based on this, there are some routes that the okada riders should not ply. Even in the Nigerian highway codes, there are some roads that okada is not allowed to ply like an express way.

They are not allowed to ply there. How can you see an okada man struggling with vehicles on the third mainland bridge? Their capacities are not supposed to be on that road. They are vulnerable road users.

So, it will not create any problem. They should concentrate on the areas they are not affected. They should read the law. They should also have the crash helmet, register their motorcycles, they must be licensed to ride and they must be trained to be on that route.

As for the street traders, some of us who have been opportuned to travel outside the country, you will notice that you don’t have street traders in some developed countries and Lagos is becoming one of the developed cities we have in the world.

There should be market environment. Street trading is one of the causes of road accident. I have been to Berger junction for more than five times on what we call, road safety audit and if you go there now, you will find out that Berger in Lagos-Ibadan expressway is an accident prone spot. Because there are no demarcated parks for vehicles.

They just stop on the road and discharge passengers. And there is no pedestrian bridge for passengers to cross to either sides of the road and people are still selling things on the same road. So you find out that some of them are crushed and killed. If you want to sell things, you go to designated market and ply your business there. Lagos State government is even doing well by creating a market environment for them to sell.

We are therefore calling on everybody that road safety project is not meant for government alone that everybody should be involved. If you are a street trader, trade on the area that is approved by the government likewise okada riders.

These will save their lives. The okada riders are not enclave road users they are exposed road users so they should try and protect their lives. Before today, we do not have okada riders. Not that the government is banning them, but they should ply on the approved area.

Are you saying that the new law is peoples friendly; because what we hear before now is that the law is so harsh?

The law is not harsh. The law is road safety friendly. How I wish you had time to come in the morning for the lectures that were organized for people that came for driving license, you will see some of the things that they are taught there.

It is a simply thing that goes more with initiative. They  know the right thing to do but most times, they do not like to do the right thing.

What is your advice to the general public?

I will advise the general public to adhere to the new traffic law to help save life.