The President of the Nigerian Courts of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban -Mensem, has harped on the need for training and retraining for road users in the country.
Mensem who is the founder of Kwapda Road Safety Demand Foundation (KRSD) also reiterated usage of road signs, saying spate of road accidents across the country must be curbed.
She gave the advise on Thursday at the Foundation’s 10th anniversary conference and awards held in Abuja.
According to her, a good number of motorists on the road are totally ignorants of the road signs, she then tasked the Federal Government , agencies , NGO and other stakeholders in the transport sector to train road users and update them on their driving skills .
She said, “KRSD have reached out to construction companies to train their drivers as very few of them have responded as insurance companies are also not doing much.
“The other things to be done to curb spate of road accidents is for the government to enforce heavy fines for anyone who commits road crashes offenses.”
While also speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Transportation, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, noted that for the country to reduce road accidents, those who are found guilty must be made to face the consequences.
“For change to happen, a law should be passed to criminalize traffic offenders and to ensure compliance.
“The law of the Road Safety should also be reviewed whereby Road Safety office should merged with the Ministry of Transportation. If Road Safety is under my watch, I can take responsibility,” he said .
The chairman of the occasion and Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, lamented increased bloodbathe on Nigerian roads.
He estimated that over 1,000 persons have died in the first quarter of 2021, adding that road safety is a shared responsibility as the Federal Government only provides framework.
“It is a shared responsibility by partnering with the NGOs, by building roads to transition with engineering to ensure drivers are engaged on the road .
“We need enforcement to ensure stiffer penalty for road behaviors and the need for synergy to ensure schools teaches road safety behaviors,” he said.
He then craved for concerted efforts, advocacy, enforcement works as obtainable in other climes.
