The digital traffic lights we see all over Nigeria have not always been there. Once upon a time, what we had were a few manually-controlled traffic sign posts, used to coordinate the very few cars which belonged to the British colonials.

A photo showing a traffic officer standing by the manual traffic sign post has surfaced online. The photo is believed to have been taking in Lagos before Nigeria gained her independence. In the photo, we see a smartly dressed young man standing by the signpost with the inscription “STOP” on one side. It was the duty of the officer to turn the post to the right position at every point in time. To do this effectively, the traffic officer would have to be on standby always, otherwise, there would be no one to control traffic.

Thankfully, all that is in the past now. No one has to stand by the traffic light to control it. The lights are automated to regulate vehicle movements 24/7 in areas where they are installed and managed.

This makes true the saying that “Rome was not built in a day.” From our days of humble beginnings, we continue to achieve greater heights as a nation.

Culled from https://naijauto.com/market-news/manual-traffic-sign-post-in-lagos-5676

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