Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday assured on Federal Government’s commitment to the United Nations campaigns to address the challenges of road safety in Nigeria and the African continent through adoption of international best practices in road safety management. He gave the assurance at the 7th Annual Lecture Series of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Hassan, said the federal government would leave no stone unturned in its readiness to address the menace. “That’s why we are evolving policies and programs capable of making Nigeria what a road safety nation should be,” vice-president said

According to him, the government has increased capital and overhead budgetary allocation to the FRSC in the last two years to make it more efficient. He also said that government has provided massive logistics to the FRSC, approved the incorporation of road safety education into the nation’s school curricula and supported the use of crash helmet, seat belts as well as the setting up of national speed limits to check over-speeding by drivers.

Osinbajo said Nigeria was concerned, as the largest black nation on earth, that the developing world has a disproportionate share of the 1.29 million of global deaths resulting from road accidents  annually. He said Nigeria activated the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety in 2010 under the auspices of the FRSC and was the first African nation to do so.

The Nation