THE YOUTH AND SAFE DRIVING

BEING THE TEXT OF ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE CORPS MARSHAL AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY CORPS (FRSC) OSITA CHIDOKA ON THE OCCASION OF DIOCESE OF KUBWA SYNOD 2009 HELD AT ST ANDREWS ANGLICAN CHURCH KUBWA ON FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2009

 1. I feel highly honoured to be here today to address this congregation on the issues of youth and safe driving.

2. I bring goodwill message and felicitations to you from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for the success of this year’s celebration. We thank the Church most sincerely for bringing issues of youth and safe driving to the front burner for discussion. This is in line with the corps’ public sensitization programme.

3. The theme of the celebration, ”Youth as Vanguard of Change” and the subject of my discussion, “the youth and Safe Driving” are topical issues that require the attention of the state, the church and community; because neglecting them will create social and economic chaos that would be too disastrous for us to bear as a nation.

4. On that basis, I wish to once again thank members of this esteemed congregation and especially, the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion and the Diocese of Kubwa for the patriotic commitment shown to issues of nation building.

5. In an age where greater numbers of youth are having unrestrained access to automobiles and youth are displaying exuberance in driving, there is no doubt that we are faced with the grave challenges of youth involvement in road traffic crashes.

6. Youth as the most energetic, productive and idealistic segment of national population are the vanguards of change and most vulnerable to automobile accidents. Therefore, any programme aimed at saving this group from the menace of road traffic crashes is in the right direction and should enjoy support from concerned citizens and relevant stakeholders. It is against this background that community support, especially coming from the Church like this to highlight the challenges is most welcome and commendable.

7. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for 10-24 year olds and nearly 400, 000 young people under the age of 25 are killed in road traffic crashes every year, while million more are injured or disabled. The vast majority of these death and injuries occur in low and middle-income countries, with the highest rates being found in Africa and the Middle-East.

8. Young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are at greatest risk in every country, whereas young males are at higher risk for road traffic fatalities than females in every age group under 25 years.

9. It has been stressed that unless more comprehensive global action is taken, the number of deaths and injuries is likely to rise significantly. Road traffic collisions cost an estimated $518 billion globally in material; health and other costs and the low and middle-income countries suffer a loss of between 1-5.5% of GNP, which in some cases exceed the total amount they receive in international development aid.

10. In the number of youth drivers involved in road traffic crashes, the males constitute 75 percent of victims and account for about 90 percent of the fatal crashes which occurred under the influence of alcohol. We also discovered here in Nigeria that apart from the youth drivers that have made efforts to acquire the driver’s licence to enable them drive legally, there was another serious case of some under- aged group who were yet to attain the legal age permitted by law to acquire driver’s licence, but acquired the document either illegally through parallel production centres or used forged ones with which they exuberantly cruise the roads, thereby jeopardizing their lives and those of other road users.

11. The United Nations in response to the challenge of youth involvement in road crashes organized the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week on 23-29 April 2007. This was observed across the globe with delegates from over 100 countries including Nigeria, gathering on 23-24 April 2007 in Geneva to share their experiences and addressed by notable World leaders. The outcome of this event was the World Health Organization (WHO)’s report which was launched to draw attention to the high global rates of death, injury and disability among young people caused by road traffic crashes.

12. The report, “Youth and Road Safety” highlighted measures which some countries have taken to improve the situation. These include: lowering speed limits, cracking down on drink driving, promoting and enforcing the use of seat-belt; campaign on child restraints and motorcycle helmets; constructing better road infrastructure and creating safe areas for children to play.

13. According to the Director-General of World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, “The lack of safety on our roads has become an important obstacle to health and development. Our children and young adults are among the most vulnerable. Road traffic crashes are not ‘accident’. We need to challenge the motion that they are unavoidable and make room for a proactive, preventive approach”

14. This forum is therefore, an appropriate avenue to bring this matter to the open with a view to collectively discussing the challenges and finding solutions to them.

15. The Federal Road Safety Corps as the lead agency in road traffic safety in the country has in recognition of these challenges put up some measures to tackle the menace, some of which are as follows:

16. Road Safety Club

In the spirit of “catching them young”, the Corps instituted the programme of Road Safety Club through which youth of Primary and Secondary School ages and those serving their National Youth Service Corps enlist into the membership of the Road Safety Club of the Corps to get enlightenment on issues of road safety and pass the information to their friends, teachers and parents. It is believed that with the youth imbibing the spirit of road safety at an early age, they would grow up with that safety consciousness and become responsible adults and good drivers who will drive safely and make the road safe. It is gratifying to note that this engagement is paying off greatly, as the number of youth that continually show interest in the membership of the club across the country is on the increase, while the interest which youth corps members who are members of NYSC Road Safety Club show in traffic management is overwhelming.

17. Reform in the Licensing Scheme.

Conscious of the dangers which distortions in the licensing system posed to our road safety campaign, we have since embarked on the reform in the licensing scheme to make it impossible for under aged and untrained applicants to acquire driver’s license. This is against the practice in the past when people could obtain the licenses in absentia. Through the physical capture component we introduced, every applicant is expected to present him/herself for physical capturing before the licence could be printed out. The First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua demonstrated this recently, when she presented herself for physical capture before her driver’s licence was printed for her. We are also embarking on graduated licensing system to clearly differentiate the different classes of licenses for the holders.

18. ROSOWA’s Child Safety Programme

As part of its contribution to road safety campaigns and in demonstration of its interest in child safety, the Road Safety Officers Wives Association (ROSOWA) initiated a programme known as Child Safety. Through this platform, the Association works in collaboration with the Corps and other stakeholders to organize public sensitization programmes to educate and enlighten the youth on road safety matters. This is with a view to saving the youth from the dangers of road traffic crashes of which they are the most vulnerable group either as passengers or drivers. The campaign is gathering momentum, as it has been well received by stakeholders who are working hand in hand with the Association to spread the message of Child Safety to all motorists.

 19. NGOs

There are a number of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) that have demonstrated their concerns for the initiative of youth and safe driving. This is done by way of highlighting this global issue to the public and assisting the youth to get involved in matters of road safety. That is what your Church has done today. It is a programme that is worthy of emulation by other well meaning Nigerians and Road Safety stakeholders.

20. I wish to at this juncture appeal to parents who indulge their under-aged children in driving to desist from the act; as its social and safety implications far outweigh the intended love for the children. It is in our collective interest to rise up in unionism to say “NO” to road carnage which has consumed many precious lives of our youth and denied them the bright future they did not live to experience.

21. On our part, we will continue to enunciate adequate policies and programmes to deal with the challenges and sustain the on-going campaigns through collaboration with relevant agencies. We will emphasize the need for the child safety measures in automobiles to be observed by parents and ensure that children are properly restrained through proper use of seatbelt whenever in a moving vehicle. The Corps will also work with relevant government agencies and draw attention to measures that promote road safety and ensure that governments construct roads that forgive; that youths don’t drink while driving; that they always fasten their seatbelt; that they learn the Highway Code very well and avoid distractions while driving or in a moving vehicle as passengers.

22. Our campaign will also encourage youth to speak up on road safety issues and be active participants by registering with road safety-based Clubs and Associations as vanguards. We are confident that with reforms we have engendered in the Licensing Scheme where driver’s licence would no longer be obtained through the scanning process, but physical capture component, it will be impossible for under aged drivers to acquire driver’s license illegally and operate with fake ones as was being done before.

23. I therefore call on parents, religious and traditional rulers to join hands with the Federal Road Safety Corps in our road safety campaign to save the youth from the dangers of road traffic crashes, which has been identified globally as one of the health and safety concerns threatening the lives of the youth. Together, we can deal with this menace and provide accident-free environment that will make the youth to play their role as the vanguard of change.

24. Thank you for your attention and God bless.