In a bid to reduce road accidents and fatalities caused by trucks, Dangote Cement Plc has partnered with the Federal Road Safety Corps to help in the recruitment, training and monitoring of its drivers’ activities.
Dangote plant manager Ibese, Ogun State, South-West Nigeria, Azad Nawabuddin while speaking at the maiden road safety awareness campaign organized by the cement factory noted that the company is targeting a zero fatality rate on Nigeria roads.
Nawabuddin explained that the awareness campaign is to ensure a reduction in road accidents across the country, especially during the festive period.
Speaking on the theme: “Use Road Like Person Wey Sabi”, the Dangote plant Director noted that the message of being considerate while using the road is directed to its truck drivers, the motorcyclists and drivers of light vehicles operating around the Plant, as well as the members of its communities.
He added, “I, therefore, enjoin all these actors on our roads who are well represented here today to learn and imbibe necessary tips to improve their use of the road in a professional manner and help cascade the safety messages to their colleagues hereafter.
“We, as Government, Corporate Organizations, Communities and Individuals must all join hands and play our part in ensuring safety on our roads as safety is a collective responsibility.
“Earlier this morning, we had taken the road safety campaign to our neighbouring communities via roadshows coordinated by FRSC and our employee Volunteers in recognition of the communities as our key stakeholders and partners.
” I am glad that the messages were well received and it is our hope this will drive some attitudinal change in the way we use the road,” he said.
Similarly, the assistant director of transport in charge of safety and operation in Dangote Cement, Sanusi Iskilu revealed that the company is fixing board cameras on its trucks to help in achieving the zero fatality target.
Iskilu explained that Dangote cement also employed the service of external stakeholders who give feedback on the performances of its drivers.
He further explained, “we have a lot of initiatives that we have taken on board. In the recent year, you will discover that our accidents have reduced drastically and we have improved.
“Strategically, we have been able to fix onboard cameras on some of our trucks, so, we are able to see drivers in transit in their cabin and they are cautioned as well.
“We have external stakeholders that give feedback of our drivers performance in transit for us to immediately act and ensure that they are monitored and they are strictly brought under control.”
He however said Dangote Cement is moving to ensure speed reduction to save lives rather than speedy delivery of goods.
He added, “We are also moving from our campaign of no harm to people to no accident at all. So, if there is no accident, we can’t kill anybody and we want to consider everybody on the road. And this has even given us credibility from the public apart from the regulatory agencies.”
While giving his lecture, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC commander Caleb Yerima maintained that road users need to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations guiding it.
He also commended the Dangote cement for embarking on training of its truck drivers to help in reducing accidents on Nigeria road.
He said, “Dangote has been doing that; that is why they engage their staff in different training to enhance their performance.
“For spending billions naira to purchase a vehicle, means that it also need training to them to preserve them. We cannot just hand over investment to someone that doesn’t know how to use it. And that is why training and retraining is very important.”
The highlight of the Dangote Plant Road Safety Awareness Campaign program is the presentation of 100 C-Caution, 500 reflective jackets and 100 motorcyclist helmets to participants at the event.
Nnenna.O
