A former Minister of Aviation and former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka, on Monday urged the Federal Government to make urgent investments in road safety or risk tens of thousands of preventable deaths in the coming years.
Speaking in an interview on The Morning Brief on Channels TV, Chidoka warned that Nigeria could lose at least 65,000 people to road crashes by 2030 if current trends continue.
“If we do nothing and these crashes keep growing at the current 10 per cent between 2024 and 2025, and FRSC remains without patrol vehicles and fueling to go about at least reducing speed on our highway, by 2030, we would have lost at least 65,000 Nigerians from road crashes.
“It could be me, it could be you, and it could be anybody, and that is not good enough,” he lamented.
Chidoka criticised what he described as a lack of decisive action on road safety despite recurring mass-casualty incidents, saying, “No country loses 5,000 people from a particular incident and does nothing.”
The former minister also insisted that the country has the capacity to significantly cut down fatalities and serious injuries, explaining that the nation could aspire to what he called “vision zero.”
According to him, “Vision zero is possible, and I tell people that I’m passionate about road safety. Road safety is not the same as FRSC. FRSC is the Federal Road Safety Corps, but road safety is an issue that Nigerians should be interested in.”
Chidoka said no new laws were required to begin improving safety conditions. “I am saying to Mr President, we don’t need any new legislation, we don’t need any new laws,” he stated.
Instead, he urged the Ministry of Works to allocate part of its existing budget to make high-risk road corridors safer.
Chidoka emphasised that without immediate intervention, Nigeria risks a sharp rise in preventable road deaths in the coming years.
Nigeria’s road safety crisis has reached alarming levels, with tens of thousands of preventable deaths occurring every year.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps, the country records roughly 5,000 road-traffic deaths and over 31,000 injuries annually.
In 2024 alone, 5,421 people lost their lives in 9,570 reported crashes.
Between 2023 and 2024, over 10,000 fatalities were recorded, highlighting the persistent scale of the problem
These figures underscore a long-standing pattern of deadly road accidents, particularly along high-risk corridors, where unsafe driving practices, overloading, and inadequate infrastructure exacerbate the crisis.
-Advertisement-
Grab our latest Magazine, "Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, SAN, A man of wide horizons and deep intentions". Get your order fast and stress free.
For more details about Newswire Law&Events Magazine, kindly reach out to us on 08039218044, 09070309355. Email: newswiremagazine@yahoo.co.uk. You will be glad you did
Download E-MagazineDo you want to be heard, your events covered, your articles published, or need to advertise your products and services on our Blog and Magazine, reach out to us at Newswire Law and Events, you will be glad you did. For more details about our services, please call: 08039218044, 09070309355. Email: newswiremagazine@yahoo.co.uk
