150 Students Embark On ‘Ember’ Safety Campaign
At least, 150 students in Lagos State public schools embarked on road safety campaign recently to sensitise motorists and others on the need to be safety conscious in this ‘Ember months.’
The school children in Ikeja area of Lagos State, South West, Nigeria, staged a road show from the Government Secretariat, Alausa to Allen Avenue Junction, distributing handbills on road safety.
Some of the handbills read School Children Say No To Riding Okada, Our Safety On The Road Is In Our Hands, Obey All Traffic Rules, Avoid One-way, It Exposes Life to Danger, Obey Zebra Crossing and Pedestrians Have Right On The Roads.        The campaign, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, had the slogan Children Demand Safety on Our Roads.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said the involvement of students underscored the ability of children to act as agents of change.
According to him, being in their formative years, they are able to impact knowledge and imbibe the mind-set that would support a better road culture in the future.
He said the campaign would be held across the state. A similar road show will take place in Victoria Island, National Stadium, Surulere, Mile 2 and Mile 12 areas.
“We have done a lot of work in the classrooms and we have taken some students outside the country to train them on how to ensure safety on our roads. I hope that in a few years, we would have built a better generation of road users,’’ Opeifa said.
Highlight of the event was the arrest of motorcycle operator for flouting the state laws. The motorcyclist was riding on the highway in contravention of the regulation specifying routes the okada riders are expected to ply.
Miss Jenifer Chimeze, a senior secondary student of Ikeja Senior High School, who is also a road safety ambassador, stated that she was honoured to be chosen to enlighten the public about traffic laws in the state.
According to her, road safety was everybody’s responsibility either as a motorist or a road user, opining that being an experienced driver did not exempt one from being road safety conscious.
She thanked the government for the opportunity, as well as the exposure given and urged that the good work in safeguarding the lives of people on the road should not be stopped.
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