29th November, 2012
Authorities of the Federal Roads Safety Corps and Vehicle Inspectorate Office in Nigeria have thrown their weight behind the annual safety initiative of ABC Transport Plc, calling on other transport companies in the country to emulate the safety consciousness of the 19-year-old long and short distance transport operator.
Speaking separately last Monday at the flag-off of this year’s accident-free campaign with the theme: Defensive Driving in a Chaotic Road Traffic Situation in Nigeria and West Africa, the duo of Charles Nseobong Akpabio, Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Commission and Adebayo A Olusoji, Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer (Head of Operations) in Lagos State commended the transport company for always setting the pace in terms of safety standards.
On his own part, Jude Nneji, Deputy Managing Director, ABC Transport Plc told the company’s cabin crew comprising drivers and conductors on the importance of this year’s safety campaign which he said is in line with the organisation’s set aims and objectives of protecting lives and properties of its passengers.
According to him: “For us at ABC Transport, we shall continue to harp on safety and adhere to the stipulated standards at all times; we will also strive to empower and challenge our traffic and safety department while, at the same time, fortify our vehicle maintenance policy.”
Driving on Nigerians roads, he said, has become riskier than even before as a result of high traffic of vehicles on the highways. It is unlikely that a greater per cent of these motorists are largely untrained; this percentage has never cared to undergo any training in any driving school. It is this percentage, he said, that poses danger for which road users are likely to fall victim on the highways.
Jude Nneji appealed to the federal government and other tiers of government to hasten up the rehabilitation and upgrade of bad highways, pay greater attention to road safety matters and activities nationwide. He urged the FRSC to strengthen its capacity, field patrols and deploy more advanced information and communication technology.
As part of its safety measures, ABC has installed speed limiters in a greater per cent of its fleet and there are very strong indications that before the end of the year, the organisation would have installed this safety device in every ABC vehicle. Management has also installed advanced GPS tracking devices in all the buses. This is to reinforce safety consciousness, practice and standard associated with cross border transport business.
By Daniel Ekugo