This picture shows a Federal Road Safety vehicle moving at top speed with an agent sitting dangerously behind
A colleague of mine came to work uncharacteristically late one Thursday afternoon, so I asked him why he came in late. He was sweating from the severe effects of the hot Ibadan sun and was still trying to catch his breath. He eventually composed himself well enough and told me that he was arrested by members of the Federal Road Safety Corps. This is usual, especially if you drive without a seatbelt in Nigeria. So I asked him what his offense was even though I knew what the answer would be already. He told me that he stopped off the road enroute to the office to drop off a friend and forgot to put his seatbelt back on, and also went on to narrate to me how the federal officers stopped him, asked him a pay a certain amount of money he did not have, forced him to drive the car back to their station when he could not, deflated all four of his tyres, and asked him to go to a very very far away financial institution to pay a fine. He was exhausted by the time he was done paying the fine. Then when his vehicle was released to him, he could not find a technician, locally referred to as a vulcanizer to fix the tyres, by the time he eventually got one, he had spent almost all of his time at the federal road safety corps station.I scolded my friend for not driving with his seatbelt on and told him to endeavour never to drive without them. I also went ahead to explain the importance of driving with a seatbelt to him. As a matter of fact, I am so obsessed with driving with my seat belt properly fastened on that my son would not even let me move the car without them.
However, just some days after my friend's encounter with the federal road safety officers, I saw a federal road safety corps vehicle speeding down a major road with an officer sitting on the trunk of the mini van's bed. If the driver brakes suddenly, the officer will definitely lose his front teeth at a minimum. Now, with this type of behavior, the federal road safety corps officers involved here have clearly not demonstrated the right road safety standards that they themselves preach and arrest other road users for violating. They have not been a good role model worthy of emulating. The best way to develop a safety culture and awareness in people is to show them how by doing the right thing. Not demonstrating the right safety culture as leaders make us forfeit our rights to confront unsafe behaviors. My plea to us today is to seek to know the right safety cultures and practice them. It does not stop there, encourage others to practice the right safety cultures too, but not leading by example will make this impossible. Be safe out there, and be the best safety role model that you can be.
For questions on how to be a good safety role model, as well as for questions on road safety rules, expectations and laws, I am sure that the kind folks at +Business Leaders’ Health & Safety Forum, +Public Safety Thought Leadership, +Safety Leader Insight, +Center for Public Safety Command and Leadership, +Safety & Leadership, +Center for Public Safety Command and Leadership, +Road Safety Practices in Nigeria, +Road Safety Initiatives LLP, +Road Safety Initiative, +Road Safety Fund, +road safety consultancy, +Road Safety 360, +Road Safety Decade 2011-2020, +Road Safety Contracts Ltd, +FederalRoad SafetyCorps, +Mark Sadan, and +Christy Minch may be willing to answer your questions.
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Onwuka Chukwuemeka,
Health Safety & Environment,
Procter & Gamble | Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria | +2347043319172 | +2348057044512
… even on our worse nights, the sun eventually rises.
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