Mr. Adejumo Adebayo (AMATO Member)
The issue is caused by both the truckers as well as the government agencies on the road. The government should remove all the thugs and security personnel extorting truckers from the road. The checkpoints where people have an interface with them should be drastically reduced and NPA should return to their domain and not the roads. There should also be adequate facilities such as holding bays for trucks and good roads. These will reduce the rate of accidents on our port access roads.
Aloga Ogbogo (National Secretary, NARTO)
Accident is a function of three variables, which include mechanical, human and environmental. We expect that no matter how you latch a container on a truck, if it gets into a bad road that has a big ditch, the force of gravity will come into play and the container will definitely fall-off. Also the law enforcement agents and the area boys would want to put the driver to an automatic halt in order to collect money from them and in the course of that, the driver can lose his concentration which can result in an accident. Many of the trucks are overage too because Nigerian truck owners cannot afford to buy new trucks. NPA should ensure they subject the trucks to adequate checks to meet the minimum safety standards. This should be done for both dry and wet cargo trucks. Some of these accidents are also caused by overloading. There should be weighbridges in the ports. These are the important factors to be looked at in forestall accidents on our roads.
Collins Dike (Former National Organizing Secretary, COMTUA)
The government is to be blamed completely for these accidents. This is because they allow the activities of thugs and other illegalities in the state without any move to forestall it. Everyone blames truckers but they don’t care to know how their business is fairing. We also have our own issues, but the issues around the business are making truck drivers paranoid. They say they check our trucks and give MSS stickers but I can stay in my garage and get these stickers. Yet the government wants us to comply. So who is at fault? When an accident happens they will find a way of pushing the blame on the truckers. I think until these issues are addressed, it will be very difficult to reduce the rate of truck accidents claiming lives and properties in the country.
Rilwan Bello (Vice President, NAMTOP)
The Lagos State Government should outlaw, ban, and criminalize the activities of roads/highways hoodlums causing truck accidents and endangering the lives and property of road users’ across the state. Relevant stakeholders including Lagos State Government, NPA, and Terminal Operators should calibrate their safety enforcement operatives to be more proactive in the enforcement of Minimum Safety Standard on errant Truckers to prevent avoidable falling of containers and loss of lives and property on the roads.
Bala Muhammed (Administrative Secretary, AMATO)
I would advise the state government to make sure to adequately enforce the minimum safety standard of trucks before issuing them clearance. Good roads should also be constructed for the easy plying of articulated vehicles and trucks. Truckers should also ensure that they do not drive while under the influence of alcohol and they should have their valid licenses and certification. They should also ensure they carry out constant mechanical checks and repairs on their trucks.
Kunle Ajayi
Many of the roads are also very bad for the trucks to ply. It is not today that containers have been falling. It is the carelessness of all the agencies that are involved on the road including the shipping line that are loading this truck. There should be an assessment before loading. It might be on the engine or the driver because the truck owner cannot give his truck to a lunatic driver. Those constructing roads should also consider heavy laden vehicles when constructing the roads.
Francis Omotosho (Registrar, NAGAFF Academy)
If you trace the troubleshooting chain of what is causing accidents in Nigeria, we will trace it back to the government. Many of the truck owners don’t have money to buy new trucks. They go to service and revamp abandoned and rickety trucks to start loading containers. The Nigeria Port Authority is not ready to monitor and assess the standard of those vehicles. They still allow them to load containers and once they load anything could happen. If the government wants to really sustain and ensure that there are no accidents, they need to provide loans or provide standard trucks for the truckers. If these vehicle assessments are monitored and enforced by the government, you cannot go there with rickety vehicles and over 80 percent of truck owners will be out of business because I know they won’t be able to meet up and get the road worthiness certificate. The government should also make sure the road is also car worthy.
