There is no doubt about the beauty of Abuja. In the sub-Saharan African region, Abuja stands out as the most beautiful capital city. I have had the privilege of travelling to almost all the capital cities of our sub-region, and I can proudly affirm the serene beauty of Abuja. The seat of the federal government of Nigeria, housing the president’s office and residence, and that of his vice, ministers, the headquarters of all the military formations in our country, particularly the Nigerian Police force, including para-military agencies, interestingly including the federal road safety corps saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance to the obedience of traffic rules and regulations as well as the police.
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However, motorists in Abuja are “licensed to kill”. And everyone, just everyone that matters, looks away and feels unbothered. I am particularly disturbed as to why the supervising authorities of Abuja do not find this very shameful as I and some other few people do. Unlike Abuja, obedience to traffic rules and regulations is sacrosanct and complied with as a tradition in the capital cities of the western African subregion. Starting from Cotonou to Banjul, Dakar, Accra, Abidjan, and others, traffic lights are obeyed and respected by motorists. Failure to do so attracts severe consequences, unlike our Abuja. Therefore, driving in these capital cities is orderly and safe.
One begins to wonder why it is so difficult to ensure compliance to traffic regulations in Abuja, when Lagos State can do it in Lagos, and Taraba State can do it in Jalingo. Yes, Jalingo, where motorists are reasonable and law-abiding, unlike here in Abuja where there is massive presence of police force, road safety corps, and vehicle inspection office personnel. What beggars belief is the arrogance and the effrontery of these violators of traffic rules in Abuja. It has turned law-abiding motorists into “fools” who watch helplessly how violators defy traffic lights stop signs. Motorists, especially unpainted cab drivers violate the traffic lights at the intersections where the Armed Forces headquarters are located in area 10 Garki Abuja, at the junction where the Police force headquarters is located in Asokoro, at the one where the Ministry of Defence is located, and unfortunately at the one where the federal road safety corps and the Nigerian Customs Service are located in Wuse 3 amongst several others. The presence of law enforcement premises in these locations absolutely has no effect as to reasons why these drivers should exercise caution. It is right to point out that the violators are not only painted or unpainted cab drivers. They include private motorists, even government vehicle drivers, federal and state, and surprisingly, drivers of diplomatic cars. Everybody violates the traffic lights. No fear of consequences or arrests from anyone in a city that has vehicle inspection officers at every corner. I have personally witnessed situations where the violators and law enforcement officers stationed at these junctions wave to each other at every violation. The Obasanjo junction in Area 11 Garki and Ritalori junction in Area 2 Garki are notorious for this.
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Several lives have been lost to these gruesome acts of traffic violations, with fatal accidents occurring from time to time, but unfortunately, no one seems bothered. So, it is like drivers are free and licensed to kill in Abuja. Indiscipline plays a significant role in the revenue generation of cities like London and Lagos, why the federal capital territory traffic enforcement agencies cannot key into this is surprising.
One may ask if Abuja has always been like this, and the answer is no. It was not like this in the 90s, till the millennium, and especially 1999 to 2007 when the minister in charge of Abuja was equally a traffic law-abiding government official. This impunity started about fifteen years ago, and it has degenerated into this shameful abysmal level in the last decade. The complexities of human nature presuppose that every attempt will always be made to break laws, but in saner climes, there are consequences for such actions. The use of technology has been of immense importance and value to the enforcement of traffic rules and regulations in such societies, and people are made to pay for infractions committed against the law. The provisions of cameras at the intersections are classic examples.
Granted that Abuja may not have such facilities at the moment, which it should have had anyway with the resources available, analogue solutions can be improvised to abate the situation. Deployment of personnel, bikes, and patrol vans at these notorious intersections can be done, and violators made to pay for infractions. Unlike the present situation where enforcers of law and violators wave at each other. The present Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is doing a lot in the development of road infrastructure in Abuja, a very commendable act necessary for the developmental sustainability of the city, but without proper monitoring of how the infrastructure is used and laws complied with, it is an exercise in futility. It, therefore, puts lives at more risk rather than ease of driving on the roads.
The nonchalant attitude of law enforcement agencies towards this menace is a subtle way of approving the “right” of one motorist to “kill” the other as if lives do not matter. People drive against traffic on virtually all the major highways without being challenged at every hour and every day. On the Airport -Lugbe-City gate Expressway named after the late President Umar Yar’Ardua to the Asokoro- Kubwa-Zuba Expressway and other major expressways, seeing people drive against traffic unchallenged is a common trend even where it portends great danger and risks. No one cares about the attendant risks involved. Therefore, this is a patriotic clarion call to all involved in arresting this ugly situation to please help restore sanity in the driving culture of Abuja and help save lives.
Fola Aiyegbusi, a public commentator writes from [email protected].
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