The Ekiti Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at the weekend again called on all categories of road users to be safety conscious while driving.
The Sector Commander, Sanya Adeoye, gave the charge at a one- day sensitization workshop on Road Safety, organised by the Ekiti Command of FRSC, in collaboration with late Dr Tunde Aladesanmi Foundation, DTAF, named after one of the doctors who died in the crash, 10 years ago in 2016, and Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Ekiti State chapter.
According to him, FRSC remained committed to enforcing road offences laws and order in Nigeria, and would not stop it’s advocacy and awareness creation until sanity is total on the roads.
He lamented that loss of a whole lot of the doctors at one swell swoop, was a sad development for the country and their families, hence, the need to intensify on caution by drivers while on the wheel.
” Road users must respect right of others.Check your vehicles regularly to ensure good condition. Do not overspeed and do not overtake wrongly
In the same circumstance, do not drink when you drive, and do not drive when you drink. You must make a habit to always check your vehicle components, to know their state of readiness and fitness”, he said..
The Sector Commander who called for a minute silence in honour of the departed doctor and his other late colleagues, said the Corp, was out to ensure that incessant road crashes become a thing of the past in any part of the country.
Speaking at the event, Dr Ken Adegoke,
President of DTAFT, who wa represented by Fashina Ademola Adeusi, said ” today, as we gather under the banner of the Dr Tunde Aladesanmi Foundation for Road Safety, we are not merely remembering the lives we lost, we are also committing to the lives we can still save.
” There is a powerful teaching in the Book of Deuteronomy that reminds us: We must not forget where we have come from, not forget the lessons of pain, and certainly, not forget our responsibility to one another.
” The tragedy that took the lives of our colleagues was not just an event, it was a message. A call to action. A demand that we do better”.
Continuing, he said, same book of Deuteronomy teaches that love is not passive. Love is demonstrated through action, through discipline, through responsibility. And what greater expression of love can there be than preserving human life?
” Road safety is not just policy. It is not just infrastructure. It is care in action.
It is: the driver who chooses caution over speed, the policymaker who enforces standards over convenience and the community that refuses to look away. If we truly love our people, we will act. If we truly remember, we will change. Let this foundation stand not only as a memorial, but as a movement”
Three working papers, on general safety tips, use of correct tyre by vehicle owners, and highway code were delivered by experts at the event, populated by critical road users, including road transport unions.
It is recalled that six members of the then Ekiti State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association, including their driver, sometime in April 2016, lost their lives in a road traffic accident along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
They were on their way to Sokoto for the 56th NMA Annual General Conference/Annual Delegates Meeting when their vehicle was involved in a fatal crash.
The media was told then, that the rear tyre of the vehicle, burst, while on motion.
The intensity was reported to have caused the vehicle to somersault, killing the six medical doctors and their driver instantly, while others, including the then Ekiti NMA Chairman, Dr. John Akinbote, survived the accident, but sustained varied degrees of injury.
The sad incident made the then governor, Ayo Fayose to declare a three- day of mourning, describing the deaths as the lowest point in the history of the state.
