1,936 lives lost to road accidents between January and June — FRSC

ABUJA—FOLLOWING the alarming rate of motor accidents and deaths on the nation’s high ways, the Presidency is partnering with the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, to check the wanton loss of innocent lives, even as the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, said no fewer than 1,936 lives were lost to road accidents between January and June this year.

The commission’s Public Education Officer, Mr. Jonas Agwu, released the statistics in Abuja, while presenting the half year report of the FRSC’s operations in 2012 in Abuja.
To this effect, the Presidency and RTEAN are mapping out strategies to jointly sanitise Nigerian roads to make driving pleasurable and to save lives
In line with the new partnership, the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Youths and Students Matter, Jude Image and the President of RTEAN, Musa Shehu, held a strategic meeting at the headquarters of RTEAN in Abuja.
While speaking on the partnership, Image listed the areas of collaboration to include checking of underage driving and curbing driving under the influence of intoxicants by commercial drivers.
Image said: “While we quite agree with the fact that some are unavoidable accidents, those that are manmade have been attributed to the fact that most of our brothers that are involved in such accidents are either under the influence of alcohol and other negativities, ranging from Indian hemp and all the rest.
“I believe very strongly that we can get this sanitised when it starts with us and the best set of persons to get this done are our parents and particularly the new leadership of RTEAN which we expect to provide a new leadership style.
“We have equally come to assure them that we are going to partner together and work together because it involves young people and involves Nigeria as a country and they have the assurance of Mr. President to partner with them.”