DIMGBA IGWE: A NEED FOR A NEW POLICY ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Written by Babs Ajayi Email: Babsajayi@yahoo Gatineau, Quebec, Canada The recent, painful and senseless death of renowned editor and columnist Dimgba Igwe, who was knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver around his Okota, Lagos residence while jogging should open the eyes of local, state and federal governments in Nigeria to the need to overhaul road construction and maintenance laws and bylaws. I am not so sure what Nigerian road construction laws and bylaws - if they exist at all - say about how roads and highways should be build, what our roads should look like, the roads component parts, and how the roads and streets should be preserved and maintained, but I doubt if road construction laws and bylaws in Nigeria specifically stipulate that a road/street must include sidewalk, bicycle path and roadways for vehicles. A road is not complete with these three component parts and no road project should be considered complete or assumed completed without the existence of a sidewalk and bicycle path for the use of members of the public. We have to create a culture that takes lives and living very seriously, and this is an integral part of doing so. Pedestrians should be able to walk freely, jog leisurely and freely, and be able to enjoy their walk and jog without fear of being knocked down or injured by vehicles or motorcycles and bicycles. School children going to or returning from school should have no trouble doing so in their neighbourhood, and the sidewalk should be a path where pedestrians are free to walk, stroll and jog. The other step we ought to take is to ensure that no road is ever built or street rebuilt without a bicycle path. We have a growing population and we also have the space and land to ensure that a pathway is provided for bicycles on both sides of our streets and roads. We must move with the times and learn from civilized societies where taking leisure walks and enjoying a bicycle ride are now part of peoples daily life and also part of the culture. We tend to feel that the roads are for vehicular traffic only, but that is not true at all. Roads and streets belongs far more to pedestrians than they do cars, and cyclists should come next when viewed against the logjam and hectic vehicular traffic we have been experiencing in our large cities in the last forty years, particularly since the 1970s when traffic jam became a part of life and living in Lagos, which ultimately led to the relocation of the federal capital to Abuja. The malaise that brought Lagos down to its knees has now caught up with Abuja as roads are poorly built, badly built and built solely to cater for the needs of vehicular traffic. No decent society will build roads solely to meet the demands of vehicles when the plan is not just to move people by vehicles only. I spent some substantial time during my last visit to Nigeria by embarking on fact-finding trips around the cities and towns; just to see the roads, observe the people as they go about their daily businesses, note their hardships, understand the situation and state of the roads, attend the campuses to see the situation there and visit the classes and lecture halls to appreciate the condition and environment. I found the roads particularly troubling and of huge concern. Pedestrians have to daily slug it out with cars, trucks, tricycles (Keke Maruwa, what a shame!), bicycles and Okada. Okada riders/operators are in a world of their own so much so that as a pedestrian walking on the street you have to look forward and backward and look sideways as you walk because an Okada might appear from just about anywhere; they are like locusts who invade at will and with no regret. Danger surrounds every pedestrian on the streets of Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Kaduna, Uyo (the home of Akauke), Calabar (with the sea of Alalos), Ibadan, Abuja, Akure, Benin, Sapele, and several other cities and towns in Nigeria. I was always scared and alarmed each time a vehicle gets too close to a pedestrian during my trips to Nigeria. Sometimes this happen because a driver is trying to use (appropriate, more like it!) the little space beside the road that the pedestrian is walking on or because there is heavy traffic/hold-up and the drivers are so in a hurry they will run down pedestrians walking beside the road. I will be so terrified when this madness is taking shape that I will scream, but some of my relations will respond with, But this was the practice before you left Nigeria, so why are you now so fearful? I used to respond by looking in their eyes but their plain-faced, this-is-Lagos, we-are-used-to-it and this-is-how-we-are mien often always shock me. They are used to living dangerously and I am no longer used to that. I have learnt to appreciate life, every single life, whether able or disabled. It is no surprise that the word disable is no longer in the lexicon in most advanced nations; the preferred word now is physically challenged. The sad story of Nigeria is that the society does not even care for able-bodied people and has no plan for the physically challenged. Buses are inadequate to cater for the huge ridership in Abuja, Lagos and many other cities in Nigeria, and the focus - at least partially - is to improve road transportation for the able-bodied men, women and children. No one remembers the physically challenged. Virtually every bus in my city and in most cities in North America and Europe is equipped with air-adjustable suspension that allows the bus to lower itself at the bus stop and allow the handicapped and elderly to get in easily without having to struggle to raise their legs in an effort to enter the bus. These buses are also able to roll down a slide that allows someone on a wheel chair to be lifted into the bus. There is a reserved area for the wheel chair-bound passenger to roll his wheel chair into and also for children on strollers. The other delightful part is that most bus stops are wheel chair-friendly and as such easily accessible for people who are physically challenged. Some of the buses these days even have a rack to hold two, three bicycles. We have a long way to go and that is why we can no longer afford allow kleptocrats to run our government. As things are at the moment, we do not have enough money to fund projects that will make life meaningful and provide some semblance of care and support for our people. This means that we cannot afford to grant Corruption a Nigerian citizenship (a la Professor Kole Omotosos Trouble) nor let it maintain its godfather status and foothold in our nation. The national policy on road construction has to be reviewed and updated. Sidewalks and bicycle paths must be an integral part of road construction in our nation, and no road should be considered completed without sidewalk and bicycle path on both sides. I know that Dimgba Igwe was not the first person to be killed by a hit-and-run driver in Nigeria and he is probably not going to be the last, but his murder drew so much outcry and reaction from around the nation and even from an ineffectual Aso Rock. The only thing was that no one and not even the people in Aso Rock and the several governors and law makers who reacted to his death saw the picture clearly nor recognize where the crooked inadequacy that led to Dimgbas murder came from. We cannot afford to be short-sighted and we must never fail to learn pertinent lessons from situations that befall us. No road/street can also not be considered completed without streetlight and without proper markings, ruled lanes in white or yellow as necessary, and demarcations. Any tarred space that is not marked and that is devoid of road signs such as speed limit, sign indicating a corner, marks, etc. cannot lay claim to the name road; such a path fails to meet basic conditions necessary to qualify it as a road. Are the two lanes on either side of the Lagos-Sagamu not-so-Expressway now ruled and marked? Do they now have road signs and marks? I very much doubt it. Since corruption has overtaken the construction, repairs and maintenance of roads in Nigeria it is important to have neighbourhood representatives on the inspection team of new roads that are being built and have an open tender process that will ensure that road construction and maintenance contracts are conducted in an open and transparent environment. Jogging and cycling are very good and useful to the body, and they help us keep fit and strong. There are very few places where you can safely jog or cycle in most cities in Nigeria. There must be bicycle paths for men, women and children to use and we had better start doing that now. The environment will benefit from a society that pollute less and ensure less emission. Riding bicycle to work should be a popular option in our cities and that is why we need roads and streets that have sidewalks and cycle paths. Cycle paths connect many cities in Europe and North America so much so that many riders are able to ride from city to city and town to town. With a car-crazy mentality, Nigeria can adopt a cycle-friendly strategy that will help to reduce vehicular logjam, reduce pollution and build a healthy society. The new road policy may be named after Dimgba Igwe. Let us hope some lawmakers at the state and federal levels will look into this and push for it to become law at state and federal levels. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) must champion this drive for change to honour their colleague and to bring an end to an endemic trend. The NLC and NUJ can work with the National Assembly to bring about the changes that our roads badly need. Unions are worthwhile and useful when they push for progressive change in any society. visit@nigeriaworld/feature/publication/babsajayi/110414.html
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 21:42:58 +0000
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