20 Years of Seat Belt Enforcement
Road SAFETY
A bout 20 years ago, we made history. I know that the first history was made in 1988 by the General Ibrahim Babangida administration. Under his watch, Nigeria paved the path for the lead Agency concept by birthing the Federal Road Safety Corps. It was however in 2019 that the United Nations Road Safety Strategy was launched while in August 31,2020 through the instrumentality of resolution A/74/299 adopted and recognised the role of the Department of Safety and Security in implementing the UN strategy. This national historic feat is rarely celebrated by a cross section of the motoring public who would rather throw away the baby out with the bathwater. Today, FRSC Nigeria is the model the World Bank is selling to the developing world as a workable concept even though there are gaps we need to close to meet the yearnings of our people. Yet again, another history which is actually my focus for this week was made in 2003 and has been instrumental in road traffic crash reduction and moulding driving behaviour. I am talking about the year when the Federal Road Safety Corps introduced compulsory wearing of seatbelt by all occupants of a vehicle even though the phased approach started with the driver and front seat passengers.
I once told you that I was privileged to be part of the three-man team that muted the idea and kick-started the campaign to tilt driving behaviour in the country. I was barely six years old in the Corps and privileged too to be the spokesperson for the Corps then. Like I wrote a couple of months ago when I did a piece celebrating the former Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, it was a privilege to have worked with the former Corps, Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi, as well as Kayode Olagunju who was then the Sector Commander in Lagos.
Although Oyeyemi has bowed out after 34 years of glorious service to the Corps, Olagunju and my humble self are still in the field striving to add value and coach future practitioners on the best humane arsenal to deploy in saving lives. Meanwhile, I must place on record that the trio (Oyeyemi, Olagunju and my humble self were basically instrumental in conceiving the idea and running with it to the glory of God Almighty.
As Sector Commander, Lagos, Olagunju coordinated my movement within Lagos and Ibadan to curry the buy-in of my media colleagues. The cost for the movement to Lagos and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital was borne by the former Corps Marshal. I must roll the carpets for the Guardian Newspaper whose support culminated in a beautiful editorial commending the Corps for the initiatives but advising that the six months deadline given before enforcement be extended by another six months.
This call was heeded before we went full blast on 1st January, 2003 with the enforcement of seat belt usage by driver and front seat passengers. What the public didn’t know was that the enforcement was all drama amidst fears that it may not succeed. It also had a taint of stubbornness exhibited by some of us led by Olagunju all in the name of doing what we believed was right. In the words of Olagunju, who bore the greatest chunk of the enforcement phobia as Sector Commander in charge of Lagos with the highest number of vehicles including substandard vehicles, we deliberately commenced the enforcement at exactly 12: 01 am on January 1, 2003.
The Corps, he noted, was afraid of the backlash and I remember we were asked to postpone the enforcement. We tactically ignored the directive in Lagos and started arresting those returning from crossover church services. We were even labelled mean and ungodly, piling pressure on people on the New Year day. That was seen as wickedness; by 7am all our offices were filled with impounded vehicles and the media stormed my office. The media concern and massive coverage assisted in raising awareness that we were serious as the news was everywhere. Since the motorists needed not to buy anything but just to strap, the level of compliance was huge. If it had backfired, we would have been punished too. I remember discussing with you that before the directive postponing the enforcement formally got to us, we would have commenced the enforcement. We both believed there was no need to postpone the enforcement again after the initial six months extension. That was why we started by midnight of 31 December 2002 to “ambush” motorists coming from church and also pre-empted the postponement circular.
The success owes a lot to the media. Before we began, this is how one of the media houses captured the campaign; the seriousness exhibited by the FRSC and the Police Force personnel in the enforcement of the order have led to the rush for seat belt purchase in the market by those whose cars lack this life saving facility. So within a short while of the decisive enforcement on the use of front occupant seat belt nationwide, about 90 per cent compliance level was recorded all over the country. One could say without fear of contradiction that the fears expressed were genuine but the seriousness exhibited by FRSC personnel and the police led to a rush for seat belt purchase in the market by users of bastardised vehicles without any seatbelt.
I remember vividly that when we were about to start, the United Kingdom had run and enforced the seat belt campaign for over 22 years with a report showing that millions of pounds was voted and was still being voted to raise the level of consciousness and achieve a greater level of impact.
