The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has trained road transport workers in Gombe State on disaster prevention and management, to ensure the safety of road users.
NEMA’s Head of Operations in the office, Mr Simon Katu, told the participants that the training was a fall out from their past operation tagged, ‘Operation Eagle Eye,’ which was held in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
He said the agency deliberated with key stakeholders and discovered that there was a need for a fruitful and refresher meeting with transport workers, in order to create more awareness that would help the road transport workers in the reduction of disasters on roads especially in the New Year.
Mr Katu added that the theme of the one-day workshop was ‘Safe Home for Safer Roads,’ saying the agency was using the 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,” he said.
According to the NEMA boss, the training would help the road workers to be more pro-active as well as encourage them to have emergency response units with first aid services at various motor parks.
The state Sector Commander of FRSC, Ishaku Ibrahim, said the collaborative effort between FRSC and NEMA was yielding positive results in terms of reduction in road crashes.
He said the strategic planning from home before embarking on any journey was key to safety on the roads.
The sector commandant said 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.”
Our correspondent reports that participants at the workshop include officials of the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) among others.
