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NIGERIANS, still smarting from the tragedy that befell the country last week when a train collided with a Lagos State government staff bus at the PWD/ Shogunle railway line on the Agege motor road, must have been shocked when the driver blamed the incident on mechanical faults while pleading for mercy and forgiveness. Listen to the the 44-year-old driver, Oluwaseun Osinbajo, who was reported to have had his earpiece on while driving and ignored the directive of the Flag Officers at the rail line: “It was not my fault. How could I have ignored warning signs? The bus had a mechanical fault. It is a pity this has happened. I beg everyone affected to please forgive me in the name of God.”
But the story as reported by survivors and the Lagos State government is radically different. Osinbajo was conveying workers of the Lagos State government and some of their dependants to the state Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja when, ignoring multiple warnings, he drove the ill-fated bus with Lagos registration number 04A- 48LA straight into the path of an oncoming train in the bid to beat other motorists at the PWD rail crossing. Two persons died on the spot while four others died in hospital. There were 42 moderately-injured victims, 29 seriously injured victims and eight mildly injuried victims. Twenty-five persons were treated and transferred to Gbagada General Hospital, Agege General Hospital and the trauma centre at the toll gate.
In its reaction to the incident, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) blamed the incident on the driver. A statement signed by its Deputy Director, Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, alleged that the driver failed to obey the instructions of the corporation’s officials as he overtook other vehicles waiting for the train involved in the accident to pass. This submission was corroborated by Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, a Permanent Secretary at the Lagos State Environmental Management Agency (LASEMA). According to him, “the immediate cause of the accident was reckless driving on the part of the driver while trying to beat the train traffic signal before the moving train rammed the bus.” Said a distraught Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. This is a very sober time for us as a government and while we acknowledge God as the giver of life, the one who determines every man’s destiny, it saddens us when we have incidents like this.”
To say the very least, this incident, coming at a time when most Nigerians are traumatised by socioeconomic crisis occasioned by government ineptitude, is horrendous. We sympathise with the victims and their families even as we pray for the repose of the souls of the dead and healing for those recovering in hospitals. However, this is not the first time that such train/vehicular collisions have happened in the state as drivers try to cut corners, thinking that the trains are still far away, and transporting the occupants of their vehicles into their untimely graves.
Surely, the tragedy would have been avoided if all the parties concerned had acted responsibly. In the past, train crossings were closed at the approach of a train after necessary signals had been activated. Even the deaf knew that the affected intersections would be closed as trains approached. Now, however, the crossings are hardly left with necessary signals and barrier closures while drivers take dangerous dives across them even as trains approach. This is an unacceptable dereliction of duty on the path of the government and a sign of inadequate valuation of human life. If many drivers tend to be undisciplined, it is because law enforcement is lax. If errant drivers knew for sure that certain doom awaits them if they pulled any dangerous stunt, they would behave a lot more responsibly.
We insist that this was an essentially avoidable tragedy that speaks to the growing dilapidation of infrastructure in the country amid the increasing incompetence and ineffectiveness of government and its officials and structures. The government has to restart reconfiguring itself as an institution primed to protect the interests of the people and this should entail working hard to inspire confidence in every sphere of its activities. It must enforce the law without partiality. All too often, Nigerians have been left to suffer calamity through the irresponsibility of the government. It has become imperative for it to change, lest it completely loses the people’s confidence and trust. We expect the current tragedy to spur positive change that would help prevent a recurrence of such avoidable accidents. It is apposite that the Federal Government has already promised a comprehensive investigation into the tragedy and we expect that this will be swift and thorough and its results made public.
Needless to say, the driver at the centre of this tragedy should, if found guilty, be treated in accordance with the laws of the land.
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