In commemoration of this year’s Children’s Day celebration, Strap and Safe Child Foundation, an NGO, is to hold a symposium to popularise the need for child restraints in vehicles.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Strap and Safe foundation is poised to champion the need for a better life for the Nigerian child of today.
Its founder, Mrs Bolanle Edwards, told NAN in Lagos on Friday that there was need to properly discuss and isolate the problem as it relates to children’s emotional safety, which will further impact on government policies in the transport sector.
The stakeholders’ symposium would involve caregivers, parents, school owners and government officials, as well as the Federal Road Safety Commission.
“We need to all put heads together to deliberate about the emotional safety and new frontiers for the Nigerian child.
“Strap and Safe Foundation was founded in 2009, as a result of the alarming statistics of children’s mortality on our roads.
“We have the mandate of promoting the safe movement of children in transit.
“We advocate the use of seat belts and other forms of restraints as may be appropriate, to reduce the risk of death in the case of accidents involving children, particularly those between the ages 0 and 12 years of age,’’ she said.
Bolanle told NAN that critical steps must be taken by all stakeholders to instil safety precautions in infants and children, at all times.
“We know that we have laws that protect children in motion; however, the laws are not being enforced. So we want to serve as a pressure group to government to ensure that these laws are implemented.
“These are the formative years when we need these children to be safe while in transit, even as pedestrians, or at any point in time, where ever they may find themselves.
“That is why we have decided to hold this symposium for stakeholders and regulatory bodies on Children’s Day, 2019, to talk about safety and a better life for the Nigerian child,’’ she said. (NAN)
