A Superintendent Route Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osondu Ohaeri, on Thursday launched a book on road safety public enlightenment.
At the launch of the book in Abuja, “The Potency of Public Enlightenment on Road Crash Reduction in Nigeria”, Mr. Ohaeri, who is also the chairman of the Abuja chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, said he wrote the book because he believes that public enlightenment could change people’s attitude positively.
The book highlights the use of road signs for safety, effective communication to motorists and other road users, among others.
“In the cause of our daily routine work I noticed that the case of accidents seem to be in the increase even with efforts we make,” Mr. Ohaeri said.
In the book, Mr. Ohaeri also made mastering road signs simple for Nigerian road users.
He said this has pushed the incumbent Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, to scale up awareness on road safety, road use and the level of the corps engagement with road users.
“I came out with this book not only to add to the body of knowledge but to see how we can throw up some level of challenge; it is a multifaceted approach, talking about improved government investment, talking about re-strategizing as road safety practitioners, to come out with more effective approaches including communication approach,” he said.
He said the book would help road users understand that reducing road crashes is a collective responsibility. He said road safety is not only for the person in uniform but for all.
The book seeks to identify the relevance and dynamics of public enlightenment as an effective tool for road traffic crash reduction in the country.
The book, the author said, is a deliberate effort to address the challenges to effective communication between the FRSC and its target audience – the motoring public – in the collective efforts at reversing the trend of road crashes across the country.
Representing Mr. Oyeyemi, the assistant corps marshal, Kayode Olagunju, said road safety public enlightenment is important because once you are able to let people to understand what they should do on the road, it automatically positively affects how they behave on the road.
“The main aim is to communicate to people that there are certain things to do on the road, as we all know that road traffic crash is the function of the negative attitudes that we find on the road,” he said.
He added that it is important for the general public to imbibe positive attitudes on the road.
“And this book has highlighted some of those positive attributes that we need to imbibe on the road,” he said.
He said the corps always encourage people to write articles on issues especially as it pertains to road use and safety on the roads.
Mr. Olagunju cautioned Nigerians against patronizing piracy of intellectual property.
He called on relevant regulatory bodies to take serious actions towards curbing the activities of these pirates.
Also speaking, Bamidele Ibinkule, a reverend at Methodist Cathedral, Abuja, said it is important that Mr. Ohaeri continues to carry the torch of public enlightenment on road safety to various churches starting with the Methodist Cathedral.
He praised the author, who is also public relations officer at the church, for his diligence and commitment to his work and the things of God.
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