Ahead of the planned reconstruction and repair of the Abuja Airport runway which would lead to a diversion of air traffic and passengers from Abuja to Kaduna, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the weekend inspected progress of work on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
The Minister, who according to a statement stopped at several points on the road to ascertain the quality of work being done in company with the Minister of State, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri and other senior officials of the Ministry, said the Federal Government through the Ministry was effecting the emergency repair work to ensure that the road was safe and motorable even as he called for careful driving to avoid accidents during the period of closure and on the nation’s roads generally.
In an interactive session with newsmen after the inspection, Fashola said although government has embarked on the emergency repair of the road to make it safe by removing the potholes , a lot depended on the users of the road to ensure that they remain safe and avoid accidents while the closure lasted.
The Minister, who said he would wish a day when no accidents would be reported on the nation’s roads, expressed regrets that such a wish remained farfetched adding that apart from the condition of the roads, human error constituted, from available reports, a very significant factor in road accidents.
Also advocating training and retraining for drivers, Fashola declared, “I think that it is fair to say that not many people who manage vehicles on our roads are actually trained to manage vehicles on the roads; many people are auxiliary drivers for want of something better to do”.
“There are rules in the operation and utilization of automobiles”, he said adding that the FRSC has continued to address the problem in terms of education, enlightenment and the introduction of a speed limiting device while his Ministry was also looking at how to assist them in the short to medium terms by introducing some speed cameras to deter people and support the efforts of the Corps.
