Lagos committed to curbing carnage on roads — Sanwo-Olu

2026-02-11 - 00:09

By Olasunkanmi Akoni LAGOS— THE Lagos State government, yesterday, said it was committed towards ensuring safety of road users, motorists and residents of the state. Senior Special Assistant to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Transport and Logistics, Mr Hassan Adekoya, made the assurance at the second day of the four day free eye tests and other health screenings for commercial drivers, held at Lekki axis, as part of its Drivers’ Care Initiative, a move aimed at curbing the rising incidence of road crashes across the state. The initiative, according to the government, goes beyond eye checks and includes drivers’ training, substance-abuse testing and sustained sensitisation Adekoya, in his address, said the initiative was a direct response to the growing concern over road accidents in the state. He said: “About 2,000 commercial drivers are expected to be reached by the end of the outreach on Tuesday. Our drivers are the backbone of our transport system. “When they are healthy and alert, our roads are safer and our economy is stronger. Through drug testing, substance-abuse awareness, eye examinations, and free corrective glasses, we are protecting not just drivers, but lives. “We are targeting 10,000 drivers to benefit from this initiative at the end of the four day event. “We will continue tomorrow at Obalende. Mr Governor has ordered us to go around the state to ensure safety of lives and property by ensuring our drivers are in proper shape before driving. This was a result of the rate of accidents in our state.” Also speaking, the General Manager of the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute, Mrs Afusat Tiamiyu, said Governor Sanwo-Olu had directed the institute to train and certify 2,000 commercial drivers free of charge within 48 hours, underscoring the importance the administration places on the Drivers’ Care Initiative. Also, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency also conducted drug tests and offered counselling to drivers to discourage substance abuse among commercial transport operators. Deputy Commander-in-charge of Narcotics, NDLEA Lagos, Titilope Ogunluyi, said: “Prevention is better than cure, and that is what’s happening here. “We are here conducting drug tests, and anyone found to be positive will be taken in for counselling, and that is what we need at this time in our society.” When the people are informed, they won’t be deformed. “We must tell our people, particularly our drivers, of the danger in taking hard drugs, and I always say learning will continue until our people know and continue to do what is right.” On his part, the Branch Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Hakeem Olaiya, who commended the governor for the outreach, said: “After this programme, we will further take the gospel of the outreach to our people.”