FG TO INTRODUCE SPEED CAMERAS ON NIGERIA’S ROADS

The federal government has disclosed it will introduce speed cameras on Nigeria’s
roads to help the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) curtail excessive speeding
by motorists and improve safe use of the roads. The Minister of Power, Works and
Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said this yesterday after he inspected ongoing repair
works on the different sections of the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway ahead of the planned
closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and diversion of air
traffic to the Kaduna Airport. Fashola also explained that repair works on the road has
recorded some impressive progress with 130 out of its 160 kilometres already
covered. Fashola said in a statement from his senior special adviser on
communications, Mr. Hakeem Bello in Abuja, that he saw an accident that occurred a day before his visit, and that most accidents on Nigerian roads were not necessarily
from failed road networks but from irresponsible use of the roads by drivers who he alleged were less qualified to drive on the roads. He noted that his ministry would support the FRSC to improve safe use of Nigerian roads, and advocated for the retraining of drivers. The FRSC, he stated, has continued to address the problem in terms of education, enlightenment and the introduction of speed limiting devices but that his ministry would further their efforts in the short to medium terms by introducing some speed cameras to deter people from excessive speeding. “I think that it is fair to say that not many people who manage vehicles on our roads are actually trained to manage vehicles on the roads; many people are auxiliary drivers for want of something better to do. There are rules in the operation and utilisation of
automobiles,” said Fashola. The minister also said that it was the job of the
government to ensure safe use of roads and that it was not going to give it up. On the
outcome of his inspection, Fashola said the work on the road was an emergency repair
and not a reconstruction which he said would come later after an ongoing
procurement exercise on it is concluded.