By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
Perhaps Minna, the Niger State capital is the only capital city where road traffic wardens are still drafted to roads to man traffic in places where automated traffic lights systems are erected to help control traffic by road users.
Motorists brazenly disobey the automated traffic control lights system with impunity so much that Police traffic wardens and other road vanguards are usually deployed to road intersections, road divides and junctions to instill compliance by motorists.
New Nigerian correspondent in Minna has been observing the disturbing developments and reports that despite the installation of the digital road traffic control equipments, road users including elites, government officials, security operatives, private vehicle owners, commercial/commuter vehicle operators including cyclists blatantly show no respect to such road control devices.
Though the last administration in the state made efforts at installing the automated traffic lights facilities at major roads’ junctions in the state capital, Minna, road users had heeved sighs of relief from reckless vehicle drivers and frequent cases of road accidents.
The gain of having such devices installed has been that it drastically reduced road carnagies at junctions and road divides such as at the Shiroro road intersection junction of the Nmamdi Azikiwe Western bye pass, the intersection junction on Bank road/Paikoro road opposite the CBN office, the Lagos road/Bosso road junction and the Government House/Bosso road junction.
But the joy of having such devices installed on the major highways were short-lived. Most of the equipment soon became dysfunctional and had to be deinstalled, taken for repairs and brought back to be reinstalled about three times before the exit of the last administration.
Majority of the road users soon began to respect the devices as they beats the traffic lights and flagrantly flaught the instructions at will. Such has been the lots and practice.
Worried by the state of affairs, the present administration in the state has been having running issues with road users. First it drafted road vanguards to mount ropes at places where automated traffic lights facilities are erected to control road users from flaughting the rules when the red lights are on.
This intervention practice seemed not to have worked. It drafted road traffic wardens and Police to man such points as the traffic lights systems are working simultaneously. This too is not working.
But last month, the government dismantled all the automated traffic control lights systems. New updated ones were being mounted on the same spots as at last weekend.
The government said traffic lights violators would henceforth be sanctioned with fines and possible imprisonment. It said it is not going to be business as usual.
A statement from the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, vowed that from now onwards, the government would not tolerate flagrant abuse and disrespect of traffic lights control system on any of its road network.
It warned that anyone who try-tests the might of the state. would have himself to blame. The statement lamented that it is only in Niger state where automated traffic lights control system are installed while traffic wardens are still drafted to man such roads simultaneously with the traffic lights at the same place and points.
