ROAD TRAFFIC AGENCIES LACK COORDINATION - CHIDOKA

The Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka has identified lack of co-ordination among road traffic agencies in the country as factor militating against UN decade action on road safety.

Speaking at a media platform at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Corps Marshal also stated that the absence of a synergy in the activities of relevant government agencies on traffic matters in addition to enabling laws to streamline the functions of these agencies was hindering the action. “There are multiplicities of agencies in the road traffic sector without the necessary synergy. We have identified that as a major weakness” the Corps Marshal added.

According to him, “ there is need for a holistic review of all road traffic laws to bring about synergy among the various traffic control agencies down to the state levels and local government”. “We have however, also identified that we need to decentralise most of our activities to involve states and local governments because it is about behaviour change. Road safety is about behaviour change. It needs to be followed up with consistent, regular advocacy and enforcement.
And we have identified measures to close that gap, we are looking at the holistic review of all the laws involving road traffic agencies to be able to come up with something that increase the necessary synergy that we require,’’ he said.

The Corps Marshal stressed that the states must be fully involved in road traffic control through the creation of motor vehicle administration to achieve the UN decade of action.

Giving a background to the United Nations Decade of Action on road safety, Chidoka sated that the FRSC has been part of this global initiative from the on set through the Ministerial Conference in Russia which culminated to the resolution by the UN Assembly for increased global consciousness and engagement on  issues of road safety to achieve a 50% reduction in road crashes, fatalities and injuries by 2020.

On the FRSC priority towards achieving the UN’s action, the Corps Marshal said the FRSC would strive first to meet the target by the Accra declaration of 2006 which required that road crashes and fatality rates be reduced in ECOWAS sub-region by 50 per cent,  in 2015.

“ We want to meet the Accra declaration. Africa ministers’ meet in 2006 and declare that they would reduce road crashes by 50 per cent in 2015 and fatality by 50 per cent. ``For us in the FRSC, that is one definite goal, we are on course. Using year  2007 as bench mark, we are working  towards reduction in road crashes and also reduction of fatalities and to see if we can achieve the Accra declaration,’’ he said.

Furthermore, Chidoka said  that if the Accra target was achieved in addition to the UN’s decade of action, Nigeria roads would be among one of the safest, globally by 2020.

Other forms of global initiative towards achieving set goals; according to the Corps Marshal, include a country capacity review carried out by the World Bank  to ascertain Nigeria’s capacity and quality of management of road traffic matters which has to a large extent, provided the bench mark for the FRSC to align with the UN decade of action on road safety.  

Reacting to issues bordering on the new number plates, the Corps Marshal said that part of the challenges confronting the old regime of number plates was in the absence of capacity by operatives of the Corps and other relevant government agencies to track down traffic offenders due to the non-availability of a reliable national data base on vehicle owners in Nigeria.

He also said that “plate number is one aspect of vehicle registration. But other challenges we had with the old plate number was that there was multiplicity of numbers, duplication of numbers, use of reserve codes, printing of those illegally by some people and the absence of national database”.

“Nigeria is one of the countries where you see somebody running against traffic, you can’t put down the vehicle number and send the person a ticket. You can’t even stop the driver, take the driver’s licence and issue a ticket because he will leave it for you and get a new one. “ Everywhere else in the world, once a vehicle goes against or does something bad, all you need is to do is to conduct a search on the vehicle number plate because it will go back to the database and give you the owner’s data  and other relevant details,’’ he said.

Chidoka therefore listed the benefits of the new number plate as “security safety for the nation, enhance capacity of security agencies to enforce traffic rules as well as serve as collateral for vehicle owners. “So, it is for the security safety of the nation, to empower  law enforcement agents  and  ensuring a seamless transfer of vehicle ownership in the country including making  it possible for people to loan money using them as collateral,’’ he said.

He also said the new number would fit into the ECOWAS designed Vehicle Verification Scheme for the sub-region which is expected to take off in the next two years.

“In the next two years, when you travel to another country within  the West African region, if you have a Nigerian plate number that the other West African law enforcement agencies cannot reach, that car may not able to move freely in the West African region because we are coming up with the Vehicle Identification Scheme for the West African region under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).“We need to have proper database for us to share  information including if you commit offence in Ghana, we can ticket you because the information will be forwarded to Nigeria through a reliable and co-ordinated data base”.

Chidoka said such system as the vehicle verification scheme was already in use in the European Union and North American regions adding  “we are about to have it in ECOWAS.’’ He stated.