The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has pledged to support the proposal by the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, SCIAN to establish a Road Crash Victims Support Fund to assist road users who sustain permanent injuries in Nigeria.
The pledge was made on Tuesday by the Lagos State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Corps Commander Patrick Dung Davou when he received a delegation from the Lagos State Chapter of SCIAN who were on a spinal cord protection awareness campaign at his Ojodu office, Ikeja.
Corps Commander Davou reiterated the FRSC’s concern for the safety of road users and assured that continuous efforts were being made through training and public enlightenment to minimise collateral damages in the process of rescuing accident victims.
Sharing his road crash experience as a commercial vehicle passenger, the Commander said he spent 5 months at the Gwagwalada specialists hospital following the injuries he sustained while travelling from Ogbomoso, where he was the Unit Commander, to Jos in 2004.
He said “I realised during my days in the hospital that most of those who appreciate the work of the FRSC were those who survived road crashes while others see the agency as a disturbance on the road.”
Earlier in his address, the Lagos State SCIAN chairman, who is also the interim National President of the Association, Mr Abdulwahab Matepo commended the road safety initiatives of the FRSC and the integrity attached to its work.
Matepo mentioned the use of seat belts and observed that the enforcement of the use of seat belts has reduced the severity of injuries on our roads and expressed the hope that road users would cooperate with the FRSC in obeying other traffic regulations.
He explained that while September 5 is the international spinal injuries (SCIs) Awareness Day, the whole of September is designated awareness month to engage with relevant stakeholders on ways to reduce injuries to the spinal cord and to address the challenges associated with such injuries.
He added that since most SCIs occur through road crashes, the FRSC was a prime stakeholder.
The chairman raised SCIAN’s concern on the increasing rate of violence in its various forms which is fast becoming one of the leading causes of SCIs.
Matepo lamented the high cost of managing SCIs and called for the establishment of a road crash victims fund to support survivors of road crashes and their families, as was being done in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, India, and some developed nations.
He noted that road crash victims, especially those with SCIs, were always left to their fate which often lead to hospital abandonment and disruption to family life.
Matepo also canvassed for assistance to build a rehabilitation centre for SCI survivors to restore their overall wellbeing which is often lost as a result of their injuries.
Also speaking, the Command’s public relations officer, Route Commander Jayeola encouraged SCIAN to join the agency’s school campaigns to instil road safety attributes in the consciousness of students as they could influence the behaviour of their parents on the road.
The Corps Commander promised to participate in the 40th anniversary of SCIAN coming up later in the year to further cement the relationship between the two organisations.
On the SCIAN delegation was Miss Ezinne Onuoha and Mr. Samuel Ariyo.