INSECURITY: At CIOTA Public Dialogue, FG Introduces Mobile App to Protect Road Users

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Dr Bashir Jamoh

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Due to the high rate of insecurities on Nigerian roads, the Federal Government of Nigeria has introduce an application; Internal Security and Public Safety Alert System (NISPSAS) a mobile application that would be used to secure Nigerian road users.

Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani stated this during her address at the Virtual Dialogue organized by the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA) 2.0 Series with the theme; “Transport and the Challenge of Road Safety in Nigeria”

CIOTA logo

Dr Ajani stated that the N-App as it was called, was developed to improve the safety and security of road transport commuters as well as to aid in contact tracing at Motor Parks.

She said that the application is expected to generate accurate statistics for road users and operators and reduce road crimes such as Kidnapping.

The Permanent Secretary noted that the road transport industry is largely dominated by unregulated privately owned vehicles.

She said Nigeria has about 201,500km of roads, made up of 35,000km of Federal roads representing 17% of the total road network, 26,500km of State roads representing 13% and 140,000km of Local Government roads representing 70%.

Dr Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Transportation

According to her, the state of deterioration of a significant percentage of this road network has made the road susceptible to various woes resulting to accidents and loss of lives and properties.

“It is worthy to note that between 2011 – 2020 the FRSC recorded 111,920 road crashes; 402,360 casualties of which 217,875 died.

“Recently, the security challenges on the nation’s highways such as armed robbery, kidnapping has become very rampant and worrisome. This situation has made it necessary to strengthen safety and security in our road transport system nationwide.

She said “In the light of these insecurity, the Ministry in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior introduced and launched the Internal Security and Public Safety Alert System (NISPSAS) Mobile App on Thursday, 12th May, 2022.

“The N-App was developed to improve the safety and security of road Transport commuters as well as to aid in contact tracing at Motor Parks. This Application is expected to generate accurate statistics for road users and operators and reduce road crimes such as Kidnapping.

“Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel obliged to inform you that our Sister Agency, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) is doing a lot to stem the tide of insecurity in Nigeria.

Mrs Chizoba Anyika, National Publicity Secretary of CIOTA

“Recently, they Commissioned State of the Art facilities inclusive of Operational Monitoring and Control Room, and Patrol Personnel kitted with Cameras. They have also had a Call Center in the last 4 (four) years that operates 24 hours for emergency calls and are linked to all the Security and Emergency Agencies.

“While the Commission needs to embark on public sensitization to make Nigerians aware of their interventions; it is advisable for the State and Local Governments to adopt this technology to augment their activities.

“Dear Participants, the Ministry is planning on Transforming the Road Subsector through its Road Transport Transformation Programme (RTTP) to ensure that the road transport system supports high level safety and restores the people’s confidence in the road transport mode.

“Similarly, the Ministry through the Department of Road Transport and Mass Transit Administration (RT&MTA) is a critical Stakeholder in the implementation of the five (5) pillars of the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety (2021-2030)”

Also in his paper presentation, Assistant Corps Marshall Kayode Olagunju, Commandant of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Udi, Enugu State said that despite the numerous challenges to road safety in Nigeria, there are new prospects to road safety such as; NRSS (Nigeria Road Safety Strategy) which has been developed and is being implemented.

Others according to him which the commission is doing to improve road transportation is the Driving School Standardization i a programme, as well as infusion and implementation of Road Safety education in Primary and Secondary School Curriculum.

Other possibilities according to Mr Olagunju includes “Effective fleet management systems, and stakeholder involvement.

“Adoption of the Safe System Approach: This approach aims to develop a road transport system that is better able to accommodate human error and take into consideration the vulnerability of the human body. It starts from the acceptance of human error and thus the realization that traffic crashes cannot be completely avoided. The goal of a safe system is to ensure that accidents do not result in serious human injury”

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