SAFETY: Phone call while driving; the latest trend

Making phone calls while driving is the new trend in the country now and it is mostly common amongst the highly-placed and the men in uniform.

When the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC introduced the use of seat belt while driving, it took less than a month for the implementation to be accepted and carried out across the country.

It was not only embraced by drivers all across the country, movie producers also use it as part of the segment of their films. They use it to send message to their viewers on the need for seat belt and safety.

 Due to this, the usage of seat belt while driving suddenly became parts and parcel of drivers’ lives that they don’t wait for the men of the FRSC before making use of the belt. Even the commercial drivers who are defiant when it comes to carrying out safety instructions are not left out.

Unlike the seat belt, drivers find it difficult to obey the instruction of ‘not making phone calls while driving.’ Research has shown that the offenders of seat belt usage are fewer compare to those driving and making phone calls on daily basis and it has not stopped.

The worrisome aspect of it is that the act is mostly committed by the highly-placed persons and men in uniform. These sets of people believe that they are untouchable hence they deliberately make calls while driving. The inability of the FRSC to carry out arrest of these individuals has forced others to also indulge in the act.

Recently, two drivers cheated death when one of them was making calls while driving. An eyewitness told our correspondent that one of the drivers, who was driving a Toyota Jeep was making telephone calls while driving and rammed into the driver of a Golf car.

According to him, the driver of the Toyota Jeep driver was not concentrating hence he left his lane (in the middle) and rammed into the third lane. And because the driver of the Jeep was on high speed when he hit the Golf car, they couldn’t control the vehicles hence the two vehicles fell into a ditch very close to Kugbo furniture along Nyanya/Keffi road.

When our correspondent got to the scene, the occupants of the two vehicles have already been rushed to the hospital for medical attention. We gathered that no life was lost.

That is just one of the many accidents that ‘phone calls and driving’ could cause. Many drivers were not lucky to recount their ordeals. Before now, people ping while driving but that seems to have reduced but the rampant one is the call making.

Investigation carried out revealed that uniform personnel are the chief culprits. Recently, our correspondent was around the checkpoints of the men of the FRSC at Wuse Zone 5, where they were arresting drivers without seat belt and other offences.

We discovered that whenever they accosted a driver that is either not using the seat belt or making calls while driving, they initially stop him but once he identifies him/herself as a security personnel, they let go without even a warning.

Another set of people that violate safety laws are the highly-placed especially politicians. They see themselves as thin god that must be worshipped and cannot be touched by anybody especially when they come across those they see as ‘ordinary recruits’ in the FRSC.

In fact, whenever the men of the FRSC come across such persons, instead of insisting on carrying out the laws, they will rather salute them to show their loyalty. Only a few who are brave ensure that these men face the music. The cronies and relatives of these highly-placed persons are also not left out of this act, some of them don’t give regards to the officers because of who they believe they have.

These highly-placed not only make calls while driving, they also beat traffic lights and commit other traffic offences at will. It has also been discovered that some of them don’t renew their particulars neither do they have original drivers’ license.

A safety expert, Chike Chukwuma disclosed that the moment other drivers are seeing such actions by the FRSC and that of their colleagues; many drivers will also do the same especially those who have relatives in the security circle or highly-placed people in the society.

“I think what is good for the goose should also be good for the ganders. The law is made for everybody not only for the common man. If it is for safety reason, no matter how highly-placed or who the person is, they should be meant to respect the law because phone calls and driving will definitely cause distraction and endanger the lives of other road users and even passers-by.

“When you begin to bend rules for others, then you are causing problems for yourselves and the society. When you go round the town, you will discover that the number of people that commit this offence, ‘driving and making calls’ are very high,” Chukwuma claimed.

Research has shown also that movie producers don’t care about this offence unlike the seat belt. Actors and actresses are seen making use of the seat belt but they end up making phone calls while driving in the same movie.

The question is why would people like to endanger their lives and the lives of others because of ordinary call that can wait. Why won’t drivers or vehicle owners not park and make the call rather than cause problems on the road.

Why is the FRSC handling the issue of driving and making calls with kid-gloves? Can the menace ever be tackled by the Road Safety? Only time will tell.

PROPERTY: Living in bondage

Most buildings in Nigeria especially Abuja don’t have emergency exit doors thereby putting the occupants at risk in the event of accident.

John Okoro who visited his friend’s office in a three storey building complex in Wuse, Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital has a bitter tale to tell.

A storey building with burglary proof

John said he narrowly escaped death when there was fire outbreak in the office and there was no exit route except the main entrance where everybody struggled to escape.

He said he sustained an injury on his should while struggling with others to escape. “We were lucky the building was not engulfed. We would have been trapped because the building has only one entrance and exit route,” he explained.

An exit route is a continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety. Normally, a workplace must have at least two exit routes to permit prompt evacuation during an emergency, however, more than two exits may be required if the number of employees, size of the building, or arrangement of the workplace will not allow employees to evacuate safely.

However, exit route doors must be unlocked from the inside. They must be free of devices or alarms that could restrict use of the exit route if the device or alarm fails.

Meanwhile, many buildings in Abuja and Nigeria as a whole have only an entrance without emergency exit. And because of the security situation in the country, many landlords erected burglary proofs on both the doors and windows making it difficult for occupants of such buildings to escape when there is emergency.

A source at the Department of Development Control, DDC, who spoke on anonymity, said some of the building plans were approved by the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC and not the department which is the statutory body saddled with the responsibility of granting building plans.

Tukur Ibrahim Bakori, deputy director of development permit, north of the DDC said the building plans approved by the agency was that bungalows and duplexes must have many entrance and exit routes, while shopping malls/complexes must have staircases on the left, right and at the back with fire proofs.

“For hotel, we always insist you must have a minimum of three entrances, fire exit, delivery and main entrance route,” Bakori further explained.

According to him, the agency does not give approval for burglary proofs on windows and doors even for underground floors, although because of security challenges in the country, the agency no longer frown at it.

E.O. Machie, public relations officer of the Federal Fire Service said the service would soon submit a bill to the National Assembly on building code in the country, which when passed, would enable the service compel every landlord to make provision for fire-fighting equipment like fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers before the building plan could be approved.

He advised property owners to put in place fire blanket and fire extinguisher in their houses or offices and ensure the extinguishers are regularly serviced and refilled after use.

CAF Cup Competitions: One crash, too many

The ouster of Nigerian clubs from the ongoing CAF competitions is seen as not only a show of shame but embarrassing as Rivers United remains the only team in the competition. What could be responsible?

Rangers

When the top four teams: Enugu Rangers, Rivers United, Ifeanyi Ubah and Wikki Tourists emerged from last season’s Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, as the representatives at this year’s Confederation of African Football, CAF Champions League and CAF cup, many were optimistic that the country will have good representations.

Little did they know that they were going to be bundled out so soon at the early stage of the competitions?

Rivers United defeated Al-Merrikh of Sudan by 3-0 in Port-Harcourt in the first leg only to lose woefully by 4-0 at Omdurman to crash out of the Champions League and drop into the CAF cup competition.

Just about 24 hours after Rivers United were sent packing; Enugu Rangers were also bundled out in the Round of 32 despite recording a 2-1 win over Zamalek of Egypt at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu. They were earlier white-washed 4-1 in the first leg in Cairo and crashed out on 5-3 on aggregate.

Rivers United

Ifeanyi Ubah also crashed out after defeating Egypt’s Al-Masry 1-0 in Nigeria, and lost by the same margin in Egypt, leading to penalty shootout, which the Egyptians won.

Wikki Tourists, another Nigerian team in the Confederation Cup turned to tourists in the competition as they crashed out despite beating rivals RSLAF of Sierra Leone 1-0 in Bauchi. The victory was not good enough as they lost 0-2 in Sierra Leone.

Worried by the development, some players have proffered solutions to the crisis rocking the Nigerian clubs in the continental competitions. Kelechi Osunwa of Al-Merrikh, Sudan who played against Rivers United said, “Next time, they (Rivers United) should try not to relax when they have a 3-0 first leg advantage. They must always work hard in the second legs.

Another Nigerian playing for Al-Merrikh, Dayo Ojo disclosed that, “We believed we could do it because we spoke to ourselves and decided that if Rivers United could score three goals (in Port Harcourt), we could (also) score four goals at home. We destabilized their game plan. Nigerian football fans must learn from Al-Merrikh in the area of supporting their teams. The support we got from our fans against Rivers United (in Omdurman) was very good and that is how we see it every day in domestic and continental matches. The fans must continue to support the teams whether they are doing well or not”.

Ifeanyi Ubah FC

This year’s woeful performance is a repeat of what happened penultimate year, as three out of the four clubs representing the country, Lobi Stars, Heartland and Kano Pillars, crashed out in the CAF inter-clubs competitions, with only Enugu Rangers scaling through to the second stage.

The saddest episode was when Lobi Stars scandalously lost 1-7 to their Mozambique opponent, Muculuma, in the second leg first round match of the CAF Confederation Cup played in Maputo. It was the first time a Nigerian team was beaten outside the country by that wide margin.

More worrisome is the fact that the Nigerian league was rated then as the best in the continent and one of the best in the world.

However, the question on the lips of so many football followers especially Nigeria is that, is the league charade or something else is responsible for the lackluster performance?

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the embarrassing elimination of Nigerian clubs from the CAF continental engagements. Some analysts attributed it to so many factors.

Some critics believe that Nigerian clubs are not always prepared hence they ended up as participants not contenders. The moment they qualify, they are already crying for money to travel hence they are distracted right from the beginning. Some of them end up arriving at match venues late because of lack of funds.

Not forgetting in a hurry, Heartland FC of Owerri in the Confederation Cup which crashed out without kicking a ball. They got to Gabon late due to flight hitches and their opponents, Union Sportive Bitam, walked over them. They were enmeshed in travel hitches due to cash-strapped.

Wikki Tourists FC

Recall that Enyimba Football Club of Aba won the CAF Champions League back-to-back because of the availability of funds by the Abia State Government led by Orji Uzor Kalu.

However, many attributed the embarrassment of Nigerian clubs to the league. They claimed that the best teams don’t emerge most times. Some critics argued that some teams were being aided by referees. According to Clement Obi, “That is the reason why you will see some teams winning the NPFL trophy back-to-back-to-back and yet crash out in the first round of the CAF competitions to lowly-rated teams in the continent.

Emeka Ndukwe said the problem is lack of experience on the parts of some of the clubs. “I don’t see anything wrong if some of them meet Enyimba to tap from their wealth of experience especially on how they won the trophy, even though we know money played a big role.”

It is also believed that the tactical approaches adopted by some of the coaches are the reasons why they always lose scandalously away from home. According to an official who spoke on anonymity, “Our coach played defensive game throughout and when the boys were tired, the opponents started pumping in the goals.”

Some experts attributed it to the weather. Since the clubs don’t care about the weather, they ended up playing in an unfriendly weather which makes the players to play below par. For instance, two years, in Maputo, Lobi went into the game with the hope of defending, but the tie played under a 25°C was not friendly enough for the players hence they developed cold feet.

Poor officiating is also seen as another factor responsible for most defeats. They claimed that Nigerian teams are always robbed whenever they are playing away from home.

Recently, Rivers United were not allowed to video the match against Al-Merikkh and there were claims that they were robbed during the match. On several occasions, Nigerian clubs were reduced to nine or 10 men by the referees. Precisely two years ago, Lobi Stars goalkeeper John Lawrence was sent off for a reason best understood by the referee.

Kano Pillars also claimed that there was biased officiating that year. Pillars spokesman, Idris Malikawa said, “This is daylight robbery. African football is doomed with such refereeing. It is just unbelievable and if this is how African football is, then we are all doomed.”

Martins Odiete predicted that if precautions are not taken, all the club sides will be crashing out in the first round every year. He said the number of crises in the league is enough to make the players and clubs not to be in top shape.

According to him, “All over the world, even in South Africa, clubs have structures on ground. They have club houses, functional website, training pitches, travel by air, in Nigeria, they traveled by road even when Heartland FC won the Federation Cup, they travelled by road to Owerri, Imo state, it is so pathetic.”

Year after year whenever Nigerian clubsides crash out, they always said they are going back to the drawing board but they kept on repeating the same mistakes either on the pitch or off the pitch especially in the area of travelling arrangements.

The most worrisome of all the clubs that crashed in this year’s CAF competition is Rivers United after the state government spent huge sum of money on the team. The Port-Harcourt side embarked on several trips including a tour of Spain where they played against La-Liga sides.

Their ouster from the CAF Champions League especially the scandalous loss to Al-Merrikh after leading by 3-0 is seen as disgusting. Meanwhile, the team has since tendered an apology.

Another disturbing aspect is that Nigerian club coaches don’t write match report of what transpired in their past matches. The match report would have helped the team that is participating that season to know how to correct the mistakes made by other teams in the past or have understanding of the club/continent they are going to.

Some analysts however call on the League Management Company, LMC and the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF to look into the issue of clubs’ lackluster performances. They believe their non-challance attitude is contributing a lot to the dismay performance of Nigerian clubs.

Unlike what is obtainable in other countries where everybody is involved including the embassy, airport officials, football federation and others, that cannot be said about Nigeria where the clubs are meant to carry their own crosses by themselves forgetting that they are representing the country and not the club alone.

Analysts also noted that it is not enough to complain or apologise, what is important is for the administrators to do the right thing at the right time to avoid a repeat. They also believe if the above suggestions are taken into consideration, it will go a long way to help them in subsequent outings.

OUR STAND: Invest in people not in security

Maiden edition

Recently, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode launched the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, LNSC with a total of 177 salon cars and vehicles equipped with communication gadgets, 377 motorcycles, 377 helmets, 4,000 bicycles, metal detectors amongst other operational equipment.

Less than two months after the safety outfit was launched, people were not only kidnapped but killed at Ikorodu and other parts of the State, apart from other crimes that were unreported. The question is, where were the safety corps?

It appears that Nigerian leaders especially politicians don’t know the reality on ground. There is no doubt that the more unemployment, the more crime in the society.

Well, some may argue that the safety or security outfit has also created jobs for the youths but the question they fail to answer is, are the youth fulfilled? Is that the kind of work they want for themselves or they are just doing it because there is nothing else?

We believe that what the governor and others especially the federal government are doing is just a duplication of duty. In a country where we have Police, Civil Defence, the Military (Army, Airforce, Navy), even paramilitary like Customs, Immigration, Prisons, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, amongst others, always on the street, with private security guards, we are still creating additional safety/security outfits. Not forgetting the newly-created Peace Corps which is before the national assembly.

Even with the aforementioned, crime rate continue to soar; and committed on daily basis. One would have expected government at various levels to deploy these men to manage traffic and other related issues, but instead, some of them spent their time discussing in their offices, and waiting for the closing time to reach so that they could go home and rest.

All these are happening in a country where the unemployment rate is very high. Investigation shows that the country spends N4.62 trillion on National Security in five years, amidst claims by the security agencies that they are being underfunded.

Year after year, the security sector continues to gulp the highest chunk of the country’s expenditures. In the 2015 budget for instance, N934billion was allocated for the security sector, the highest for the year.

A newspaper reported that the figures for 2011 and 2012 were N920billion and N924billion respectively while N923billion each was thrown at the sector in 2013 and 2014. Yet, Nigeria is faced with continued kidnappings, crude oil theft, armed robbery and other sundry crimes.

It was also discovered that government at various levels have security votes which they don’t spend on any security issue hence these monies go into their private accounts unaccounted for and unquestioned.

Year in year out, various governments purchase vehicles, weapons, gadgets and gunboats, amongst others for security agencies to fight crimes but they never thought it wise to invest money on the youth. The Bible says, “The idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” So many youths are unemployed hence they are easily lured into crime.

Rather than purchase gadgets, gun-boats, vehicles and weapons to kill these youths why not invest the money into things that will engage them. For instance, the money can be invested into the manufacturing companies, textile industries, farming and even businesses.

Many of them have business ideas but need little capital to start and they have the tendency of empowering or engaging more youths as the business expands. Youths should be deployed to farm and paid even higher than those in the offices to encourage more people to go into that sector. The more the people, the more the harvest; and that will lead to food sustainability in the country which might also see us exporting to other countries. If we start exporting as it was in the past, the exchange rate of foreign currencies will be affected positively too.

Business men who would have created employment for people are also been frustrated out of business. They are forced to pay all sorts of monies ranging from taxes, VAT from local, state to federal governments. These people run their businesses on generators, harassed from all angles hence forcing them to either reduce their staff rate, or shut down the business while some leave the country for other countries.

The more the youths are engaged, the less the crime rates in the country. Government should make loans available to anybody that needs it not only to graduates. Some uneducated youths are better business men than some graduates.

Government should also as a priority, give loans to undergraduates or those willing to go to any school and as soon as they start working, they start deducting their monies from the persons. It will reduce the level of illiteracy in the country and to a large extent, reduce crime because it is a bit difficult to lure an enlightened person to crime.

The NYSC should also include in their scheme, business or self-sustenance education so that these graduates don’t remain jobless as they are finishing their service years.

Also, the idea of government giving N5,000 to individuals will not do this country any good. It will only create room for laziness, redundancy and low-productivity. It is better to teach them how to fish rather than give them fish on monthly basis. A woman started akara (baked beans) business with the sum of N5,000 and today, she is erecting a building.

Finally, rather than invest money into acquiring weapons, gadgets, vehicles and others on an annual basis to kill our youths and killing our future, let’s invest those monies in them, if truly, they are the leaders of tomorrow.