Dangote Cement Plc, Ibese has embarked on road safety awareness campaign as well as provision of road safety kits to motorists and commercial motorcyclists to help ensure accident-free road transportation.
Also, the Company, as part of its efforts at ensuring accident-free trucking disclosed that it has partnered with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to help in the recruitment, training and monitoring of its drivers.
TheFact Nigeria reports that the World Health Organisation said, approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
The United Nations General Assembly has set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030 (A/RES/74/299).
Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product. More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Who said, 93% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately 60% of the world’s vehicles. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years.
Speaking during the awareness campaign, the Dangote Cement, Ibese Pant Director, Mr. Azad Nawabuddin explained that beyond the reduction of road crashes, the company was targeting zero accident, especially during festive periods when the roads are usually congested.
Explaining the theme for the Campaign, “Use Road Like Person Wey Sabi”, the Dangote plant Director noted that the message of being considerate while using the road is directed at its truck drivers, the commercial motorcyclists and drivers of light vehicles operating in and around the Plant, as well as other members of its communities.
He said, “I therefore enjoin all these actors on our roads who are well represented here today to learn and imbibe necessary tips to improve their use of the road in a professional manner and help cascade the safety messages to their colleagues hereafter.
“We, as Government, Corporate Organizations, Communities and Individuals must all join hands and play our part in ensuring safety on our roads because safety is a collective responsibility.
“Earlier today, we had taken the road safety campaign to our neighbouring communities via roadshows coordinated by FRSC and our employee Volunteers in recognition of the communities as our key stakeholders and partners.
“I am glad that the messages were well received, and it is our hope this will drive some attitudinal change in the way we use the road.”
In the same vein, the assistant director of transport in charge of safety and operation in Dangote Cement, Mr. Sanusi Iskilu revealed that the company is fixing board cameras on its trucks so as to help in achieving the zero-accident target.
Iskilu explained that Dangote cement also employed the service of external stakeholders who give feedback on the performances of its drivers, noting
“We have a lot of initiatives that we have taken on board. In the recent year, you will discover that our accidents have reduced drastically, and we have improved.
“Strategically, we have been able to fix onboard cameras on some of our trucks, so, we are able to see drivers in transit in their cabin and they are cautioned as well.
We have external stakeholders that give feedback of our drivers performance in transit for us to immediately act and ensure that they are monitored, and they are strictly brought under control.”
He added that the awareness campaign started with a reduction in road crashes and has now “moved from our campaign of no harm to people to no accident at all. So, if there is no accident, we can’t hurt anybody let alone killing and we want to consider everybody on the road. And this has even given us credibility from the public apart from the regulatory agencies.”
While giving his lecture, FRSC Commander, Caleb Yerima maintained that every road users need to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations guiding it while commending Dangote cement for embarking on the awareness campaign and the training of its truck drivers so as to help in reducing accidents on Nigeria road.
He said, “Dangote has been doing that; that is why they engage their staff in different training to enhance their performance. For spending billions of naira to purchase vehicles, it means that it also needs training them to preserve the vehicles. We cannot just hand over investments to someone that don’t know how to use it. And that is why training and retraining are very important.”
The highlight of the Dangote Plant Road Safety Awareness Campaign program was the presentation of hundreds of C-Caution, 500 reflective jackets and 100 motorcyclist helmets to the participants at the event.
