The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday trained
road transport workers in Gombe State on disaster prevention and management.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was held at the FRSC Office in Lafiyawo Community in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.
Mr Simon Katu, Head of Operations, NEMA, Gombe State Operations Office, said the training was to ensure safety of all stakeholders on the road.
He said the training was a fall out from their past operation, “Operation Eagle Eye” in collaboration with the FRSC.
“We deliberated with key stakeholders and discovered that there was need for a fruitful and refresher meeting with transport workers.”
“This is to create more awareness that would help the road transport workers in the reduction of disasters on roads especially in the new year,” he said.
He said the theme of the one-day workshop was “Safe Home for Safer Roads” and that the agency was using this theme as a way of teaching road workers that safety on roads starts from homes.
“ If you have a better mindset and a sense of preparedness from home, once you go to work, you will be more professionally prepared to carry out your activities.
The NEMA boss said the training would help the road workers to be more pro-active as well as encourage them to have response units with first aid services.
The Gombe State Sector Commander, FRSC, Ishaku Ibrahim, said the collaborative effort between FRSC and NEMA, was yielding positive results in terms of reduction of road crashes.
According to Ibrahim, strategic planning from home before embarking on any journey is key to safety on the roads.
“The home is the starting point of any journey; if you leave home disorganised and in a hurry, there is a greater tendency of such movement resulting in a crash.
“Before you embark on a journey, you must plan from home taking cognisance of the period to be spent on the road and the people you will meet while on the road to avoid crashes.”
Mr Ayuba Jonah, the Commanding Officer, Federal Fire Service (FFS), Gombe State, advised participants to ensure that they prepared for any fire outbreak while on the road.
Jonah said any knowledge on disaster prevention and management especially while on the road was key to the safety of lives, hence charged motorists to get functional fire extinguishers in their vehicles.
He added that in an effort to ensure the safety of lives and property in Gombe State, the FFS, would before January ending deploy modern fire fighting and other response equipment to the state.
One of the participants, Adamu Wajari of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, said the training was necessary to avoid crashes while promising to step down the training to other members in his motor park.
He commended NEMA, FRSC and FFS for the collaborative effort in ensuring safety of motorists and passengers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that highlights of the training included several paper presentations by NEMA and FRSC officials on “Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning” and “Defensive Driving Techniques,” respectively.
Other participants included Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, National Association of Road Transport Organisations.(NAN)
