THE NATION MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2013
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MOTORING
•From left: Dana Motors Chief Executive Officer Mr Gitesh Yagnik; Germaine Autos Chariman Mr Jerry Chukwueke; Mr Sandeep Malhotra and Mr Homer Kim during the unveiling of Kia Quoris at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos
•Ford Export Operations and Global Gorwth Operations, Manager, Mr John Earp (right) presenting the $1, 000 dummy cheque to Felix Adepinye
Ministry praises FERMA over zero potholes compliant
P
ERMANENT Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Dr. Abubakar Koro Muhammad, has praised the Management and staff of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for living up to the expectations of Nigerians by delivering on the Presidential directive on Operation Zero Potholes by Yuletide 2012. He gave the commendation while on a working visit to FERMA Headquarters in Abuja, along with some directors and other senior officials of the Ministry. Dr. Muhammad noted that in the past, the overwhelming sentiment
Stories by Tajudeen Adebanjo
among members of the public was that of derision of FERMA on account of the poor condition of Federal roads. He said that was now history, having successfully overcome the challenges of rampant potholes on Federal roads. According to him, the agency should feel proud that such negative public commentary has now given way to commendation. He enjoined the agency to ensure the current positive image is sustained by remaining focused on its mandate all year round. He said the ministry of Works is
happy to associate with the agency's success story and that the Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen, and the rest of Management at the Ministry will avail the agency all the support and goodwill needed to sustain and improve on the achievement. Earlier, while briefing the Permanent Secretary on the history and operational structures of the agency, FERMA Managing Director/CEO, Mr Gabriel Amuchi, recalled that at the time of establishing the agency 10 years ago, about 75 per cent of Federal roads were in poor, weak, failed or collapsed state owing to many years of non-mainte-
nance and the roads had out-lived their design lives. Amuchi said with careful planning and prudent utilisation of resources and effectively deployment of personnel to road maintenance, the agency has been able to reduce the level of disrepair to about 35 per cent over the period. Apart from maintaining road carriageways and their appurtenances, FERMA, he said, has also invested a lot in road support services, such as truck parks and observation camps as well as street lighting of critical locations and bridges nationwide. This, he said,
were aimed at providing alternative parking spaces for trucks which park on highways thereby damaging them in the process. He also said the observation camps have assisted the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and Nigeria Police to provide first aid services to highway accident victims, as well as check crime at flash points located across the country. Other innovations by FERMA include the Rapid Road Recovery blueprint under which Operation Zero Potholes is being executed.
Drivers spend 99 days stuck in traffic, says report URING their lifetime the average British motorist will jump 87 red lights, drive 269,296 miles, swear 323 times at other motorists and hoot a total of 62 cyclists. According to Press Association, they will fill-up with petrol 2,214 times and get stuck in traffic nearly ten thousand times a study has found. Researchers revealed over the course of our driving life we will spend 99 days stuck on gridlocked roads, will make 1992 phone calls and will check our smartphone for emails or texts over a thousand times. The details of 2000 drivers' habits emerged in a study commissioned by Skobbler, developers of iPhone sat nav app GPS Navigation 2, and revealed we will get lost 371 times. Whilst behind the wheel we spend 384 days listening to the radio and 337 days playing our own music which means on average we sing 4104 times in the car. Marcus Thielking, Co-founder of Skobbler said: "There is no excuse for behaviour such as jumping red lights, tailgating fellow motorists or cutting people up." "Being a motorist involves a lot more than just driving and whilst we all try to be sensible drivers it would seem we are all guilty of a few misdemeanours, whether it's speed-
D
ing or using our phones illegally." "This research shows we do spend an awfully long time in the car and many motorists will conduct a lot of their other business in their vehicle." The study also found that the typical adult will share 680 kisses in the car and will have sex four times from the age of 17 and upwards. But on the contrary the average adult will have a whopping 2974 rows with a partner whilst they are behind the wheel. The kids are bearing the brunt too as they get 5520 tellings off. We will suffer from 2 flat
tyres, breakdown twice and tot up a total of 51 speeding tickets in addition to 62 parking tickets. The stresses of life have got so much that the average person has resorted to having a good old cry 76 times whilst in their car. And other extra-curricular activities include eating in the car (897 times) and applying make-up (319 times). Car maintenance such as checking oil and tyre pressure will take place 233 times and we will top up with screen wash 185 times in our driving life time.
Two million drivers face £1,000 fine S many as two million drivers could face £1,000 fines for failing to update the photo on their driving licence, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The photo on your driving licence needs to be updated every 10 years and failing to do so would invalidate your licence and could leave you with a £1,000 fine if pulled over by the police. But as many as two million have not updated their photo, leaving them vulnerable to a nasty surprise if stopped with an invalid driving licence. The DVLA said it sends reminders out two months before a renewal is due. A spokesperson for the authority says: "Appearances can change and it is important that photo card licences are updated every 10 years to ensure the police and other enforcement agencies have the best possible photograph to help them correctly identify whether a driving licence is being used fraudulently. This, the agency said, helps prevent driving licence impersonation stopping disqualified and perhaps dangerous drivers taking to our roads."
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•Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Ademorin Kuye (middle) assisted by Ojokoro council Chairman Hon Benjamin Olabinjo and his vice Alhaja Fausat Hassan-Olajokun to inaugurate buses bought by the council
Coscharis officials win Ford awards
T
HREE officials of Coscharis staff have emerged winners at the Ford Regional Service Technician Competition otherwise called World Cup Service Excellence competition in South Africa. They are Mr Felix Adepinye (first), Mrs Amaka Chijioke-Okeke and Miss Ifeyinwa Onyemelukwe (runners-up). Congratulating the winners, Mr John Earp of the Ford Export Operations & Global Growth Initiatives (E & G), South Africa, described them as worthy ambassadors who represented their dealerships well, urging them to keep up the spirit. He described them as the new brand ambassadors of Ford and charged them to continue to represent the brand well. The winners had competed at the local level last November with participants from various Ford Service Centres of the company.
SAFE DRIVING
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S the new Lagos Traffic Law is being implemented, there is a need to take some urgent steps to avoid creating more problems than the laws are meant to solve. One of the provisions of the new law says that trailers are not permitted to move on Lagos roads between the hours of 6am and 9pm. They are, however, free to move from 9pm to 6am, everyday. This provision is to reduce the rate of congestion on Lagos roads. The following should, however, be noted and acted upon as a matter of urgency.
Trailer drivers and the new Lagos traffic laws •Consequent upon the fact that the trailers cannot ply Lagos roads from 6am to 9pm, there will be traffic congestions in Shagamu, Ijebu – Ode, Mowe, Ibafo, Ogijo, Ogere and Ibadan among others as a result of vehicles waiting till 9pm to commence their journey to Lagos State. Trailers Lagos waiting to move out of Lagos may also create some traffic congestions. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the governments of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states to come together or individually cre-
ate mega trailer parks to prevent them from blocking or narrowing the roads. •Owners of the trailers or their Unions should also consider the possibility of acquiring land in Ogun and Oyo axis for the parking of their trailers to avoid falling prey of the Lagos State Traffic law and those that may come up in Ogun and Oyo states as well. •Considering the fact that some of these trailers do carry edible and expensive goods, there is the need
for the governments to put in place additional security measures to guarantee their safety as they move mostly in the night (9pm – 6am) by virtue of the new Lagos State Traffic laws. The trailer parks must also be monitored by law enforcement agents to prevent criminal activities. •The law enforcement agents should also be monitored so that they will not be using the cover of the night to extort money from the trailer drivers thereby creating traffic congestion in the night.
Jide Owatunmise •Registrar / Chief Executive, Professional Driving and Safety Academy