Road transportation is the most important and inevitable for human existence.
No doubt, without access to road, humanity will remain at a standstill and immobile.
This is because workers will go to work.
Teachers and students will have to go to school; people will have to continue to move from one place to another.
Human activities are made easy through availability of road transportation.
Road is also vital for the development and promotion of infrastructure.
Knowing these facts the federal, state and local governments allocate huge amount of money in their annual budget for construction, rehabilitation and expansion of roads.
However, research over the years has shown that the good intention of government is gradually becoming a nightmare to motorists and other road users.
Research findings revealed that most Nigerian highways are becoming death trap to users.
This dangerous turn of event was attributed to the collapse of railway transportation.
In the late 70s, shortly after the departure of RITES of India, a company that effectively managed the Nigerian Railway Corporation, haulage businesses involving movement of heavy duty containers, petroleum products, automobile and other goods and services were done through railway transportation.
Unfortunately, the story is no longer the same as there is now enormous strain on roads in the country.
It was discovered those that were constructed to have a lifespan of 30 years now hardly last for 10 years.
Trucks loaded with unmanned, unguarded and loose containers engage smaller vehicles in a competition for right of passage on the ever-busy highways.
The outcome of this friction between articulated trucks carrying containers, on smaller vehicles and other road users are most times fatal.
Almost on daily basis, we have reported cases of containers falling off their mother trucks to wreak havoc on other moving vehicles on the highways with attendant loss of human lives and material resources.
Recently, the reported tragic mishap that happened to a woman in Lagos state few weeks ago remain fresh in the heart of many Nigerians.
The unsuspecting woman had earlier petitioned Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the need to check the menace of articulated trucks carrying containers across highways in Lagos state.
Shortly after her petition, she was crushed to death by a container that fell off and landed on her, unfortunately she died instantly.
To stem the tide of this avoidable carnage on the highways.
There is urgent need to declare state of emergency on railway transportation in Nigeria.
There must be a restriction on the movement of articulated trucks carrying heavy duty containers and must only be allowed to move on specially dedicated highways.
The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, policy on banning articulated vehicles without minimum safety standards from operating in the nation’s ports and tank farms should be strictly enforced.
Lastly, owners of such long lorries must be made to provide safety measures for containers to guarantee the safety of other road users including regular maintenance of such articulated trucks.
Tayo Sanni
