GOVERNOR IDRIS PLEADS FOR SPEEDY DUALIZATION OF ABUJA-LOKOJA ROAD

Disturbed by the spate of road traffic fatalities along the Abuja- Lokoja highway, Governor Idris Abubakar of Kogi State has urged supervising Agencies of the Federal Government to ensure that contractors handling the dualization of that route, comply with contract terms and complete the construction works on time.

Speaking at the 2009 Ember months campaign flag-off organized by the Federal Road Safety Corps at Lokoja, Governor Idris lamented the rate at which transiting road users die along the Okene- Lokoja- Abuja road adding that strict compliance with traffic rules and regulations especially during the Ember season, will contribute to a drastic reduction of road traffic crashes across the country “On a daily basis, inhabitants of Lokoja are jolted by the sad notes of sirens blaring the conveyance of accident victims to hospitals” he added.

Similarly, he frowned at the depletion of the nation’s economic growth due to the involvement of youths within the productive bracket, in road carnage stating that “among the dead are promising, youthful, brilliant and talented Nigerians that could have made a difference in our efforts to attain greater heights of national development.

Earlier in his address, the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Osita Chidoka dismissed the erroneous notion among Nigerians which attributes ember season-related road crashes to evil spirits and stated that drivers should rather observe basic traffic rules and regulations to reverse this abnormal trend “these months are not destined by God for people to die on the roads, that cases of road traffic crashes are man-made and their avoidance can be ensured, if human beings on their own, resolve to show sufficient care while using the road” he added.

Chidoka also disclosed that the Federal Road Safety Corps has deliberately adopted a simultaneous ember months campaign flag-off at designated cities such as Lagos, Benin, Lokoja, Enugu, Jos and Kaduna to underscore the increasing need to draw wider public advocacy on safety consciousness especially during the ember season.