Two years ago, they launched what they called ‘Attitudes: The Change We All Need To Make The Roads Safer’ but this is 2017 and it is ‘Right To Life On The Highway Is Not Negotiable’.

This is the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) ember months campaign, taking off with a clear and stern message to Lagosians.

Mrs Tomi Mala is a Public Enlightenment Officer at the Lagos Sector Command of the FRSC and she has been on a mission to get the message across to all concerned.

“We must agree as a people not to lose lives on the roads this year and that is why the team came up with that theme.

“We all need to come to terms with the fact that we need to obey traffic rules and regulation and that starts with how roadworthy that your vehicle is,” she said.

Asides having a well-maintained engine, body and interior, she highlighted good tyres as an essential need for any vehicle to be considered roadworthy.

“The tyres must not be expired or worn out,” she said.

Talking about roadworthiness, much has been said about the Lagos state government’s newly built computerized vehicle inspection centre.

Bounce News has also been to the Ojodu-Berger office of the VIO and realized that the days when VIO issued your car a ‘road worthiness certificate’ without seeing the car may be gone.

#BounceExclusive: Why VIO May Never Be Interested In Coming Back

Mala shared the same sentiment that things will change “with this new scheme that the Lagos state government has put in place where all vehicles have to go through their computerized machine.

“Once that machine detects any fault you will not be issued a road worthiness certificate. You will be turned back to go and get it fixed.

“You can imagine if they are strict with it and the human factor does not come in. If it is down to the machine alone, every vehicle will come good on our roads.”

Mala shared the same sentiment that things will change “with this new scheme that the Lagos state government has put in place where all vehicles have to go through their computerized machine.

“Once that machine detects any fault you will not be issued a road worthiness certificate. You will be turned back to go and get it fixed.

“You can imagine if they are strict with it and the human factor does not come in. If it is down to the machine alone, every vehicle will come good on our
Road Shows

The FRSC officials are no longer allowed to stay within Lagos roads and address road safety issues.

So, it will be interesting to see how the FRSC intends to execute this programme and the activities road users should expect.

“This does not affect us. We are here to advise,” she said, noting this is not about the roads but about meeting with the people in their comfort zones and relating with them.

As far as this campaign is concerned, achieving the task of keeping the roads safe during the ember months – September to December is highly dependent on the people’s attitude.

So, she toldBounce News that activities in the next three months are more of events to educate the public.

“We will go to like 10 different parks across the state where we’ll have road shows with our motorcade to enlighten the people in an entertaining way.

“It’s not also limited to parks. We have a lot of church advocacy. We do this regularly and we call it domesticated public enlightenment.
We visit schools to talk to students, organisations, recreation centres in the evening and night...we have a lot lined up."

Common Goal

She recalled earlier during a radio interview that when Nigeria faced Zambia in a battle for the FIFA World Cup ticket on Saturday, October 7, there was a “we mentality” across the country.

“There was nothing like being Ibo or Yoruba. The song on every lip was ‘we won’ and ‘we’ is Nigeria,” she said.

This is the same mentality that she expects Lagos residents and indeed all Nigerians to imbibe as they ply the roads.

If the unity of Nigeria became not negotiable in face of a common enemy or for the purpose of achieving a common goal in football, how much more their survival?

The right to live should be embraced as a task everyone must achieve for one another.

Source: http://news.bounce.ng/Content/bounceexclusive-right-to-life-on-the-highway-is-not-negotiable-frsc-20171011