Prof. Adeyemi Obalanlege, Olota of Ota, in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun, has appealed to the state government to repair bad roads to reduce road accidents during the Yuletide.
Obalanlege made the appeal at the “2019 Ember Months’’ campaign organised by Sango-Ota Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps on Thursday in Ota.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the campaign, organised in collaboration with the Shell Nigeria Gas Limited.
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It was tagged: “Road Safety is a State of Mind; Road Crashes is An Absence of Mind. Stay alert, Stay Alive.’’
The monarch said that the appeal became necessary because many of the roads were no longer motorable to the road users.
Obalanlege attributed some of the road traffic crashes across the state to the deplorable state of the highways.
“We have lost so many innocent lives to crashes, as most of the roads are in terrible conditions,’’ he said.
The traditional ruler said it was only when the roads were in good conditions that the FRSC would be able to effectively enforce traffic rules and regulations across the state.
He implored motorists to do all necessary things before putting their vehicles on the roads and shun drinking while driving to avoid unnecessary crashes.
Obalanlege also cautioned uniform personnel against reckless driving that could lead to unnecessary mishap on the roads.
In his remarks, Mr Clement Oladele, the Ogun Sector Commander of FRSC, lauded the Sango-Ota Unit Command for rescuing 116 victims from 65 crashes in Sango-Ota and its environs in 2019.
Oladele, represented by Mr Olufemi Olonisaye, Ogun Head of FRSC Operations, said that the tanker accidents across the state increased in 2019.
“The responsibility of reversing this trend of tanker crashes required collective responsibility of everyone, both the government, individual and stakeholders,” he said.
Oladele said that FRSC had struck a partnership with the Department of Petroleum Resources, Ogun branch, to train over 500 drivers, adding that they were trained on tanker safety at the NNPC Depot, Mosinmi in Ogun.
The sector commander enjoined tanker operators to use safety valves on all loaded tankers as safety measure to prevent spilling in the event of crash.
Commenting, Mr Akeem Ganiyu, the Sango-Ota Unit Commander of FRSC, urged motorists to embrace safe driving culture and abhor the wrong use of highways.
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Ganiyu attributed some of the crashes, which had claimed numerous lives and property, to bad attitudes of motorists.
The unit commander stressed the need for motorists to change their attitude in the use of phone while driving, shun speeding, avoid driving under fatigue, among others.
He said that life lost carelessly to road accident due to absence of mind could not be replaced as life has no duplicate. (NAN)