Minister of power, works, and housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that accidents on the nation’s highways are not mostly owed to bad roads but to reckless driving.
Fashola said this in Abuja during a capacity building workshop on the activation of five United Nations’ Convention on Road Traffic acceded to by Nigeria.
The minister added that avoidable accidents on highways can be traced to abuse of traffic laws by road users.
“Avoidable accidents that occur on our highways were not always as the result of bad roads as claimed by road users, but largely due to over-speeding and the recklessness of drivers, adding that no driver speeds on bad roads,” Fashola said.
He further tasked the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to step up its campaign for drivers’ education and enforcement of road safety nationwide.
Fashola also said his ministry would soon embark on deployment of manpower for the erection of more road signs.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Christian Oha, who represented the FCT minister at the workshop, said tremendous success in the reduction of road accident had been achieved through improvement in road construction in the territory.
Also, Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, said his organisation would not have flourished successfully if not for the support enjoyed from stakeholders in the road and transport sector.
He also thanked the United Nation’s envoy for sponsoring the workshop.
