10th November, 2010
The attention of hundreds of Lagosians was drawn to an unusual scene yesterday in Agege area of Lagos State, South West Nigeria when a seven-year old boy in the uniform of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA was seen directing traffic on a very busy road.
The baby LASTMA official being supervised by some LASTMA officials was seen sweating it out as he was able to direct hundreds of vehicles, while standing at a T-junction very close to Pen Cinema.
The boy, Victory Taiwo, a primary three pupil of Dairy Farm Primary School even apprehended a vehicle which appeared to have violated traffic rules and he got N500 tip from a woman who appreciated what he did.
The boy was heard warning the traffic offender not to violate traffic rules again and then left him off the hook.
From then on, motorists who were so impressed by what the boy was doing gave him money and willingly obeyed his instructions when he told them to move or stop.
Some passers-by used their mobile phone cameras to take good shots of the boy who did not seem to be bothered about the attention he was getting.
When asked how he felt doing the job meant for adult, Taiwo said he was very happy about it and said he would like to be a LASTMA officer when he grew up.
A senior LASTMA officer, Mr. Beecroft Shola, said the school released the boy to him to train him on how to direct traffic as part of the school safety advocacy programme of the Lagos State Government.
According to him, the programme was an enlightenment one for children, who would in turn go out to enlighten okada riders on the need for them not to carry school children, pregnant women, women with babies strapped to their back, among others.
As part of the Lagos State School Advocacy Safety Programme, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa had said that the programme is to inculcate in the children knowledge of traffic rules and laws in the state.
He stated that a time would come when the state government would use children to mount the roads to direct traffic in order to sensitise the adult on the need to be road conscious.
Also, the state government in a bid to ensure safety in this ‘Ember’ month had been using school children to launch road safety campaign across the five divisions of Lagos State. During the campaign the children marched and distributed flyers to motorists.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga
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