Fashola advocate inclusion of traffic education in Schools’ curriculum

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Thursday called for the inclusion of traffic education into school curriculum, saying it would help the nation to raise a generation of knowledgeable and well-informed drivers that will obey traffic laws.

The minister, who spoke as the lead speaker at the 10th anniversary Colloquium of the Lagos Traffic Radio (LTR) held in Lagos, said such integration was important for traffic management, particularly in Lagos where the narratives of traffic congestion is a critical factor, given the State’s status as the economic hub of the country.

Fashola, while harping on the theme of the colloquium, “Integrated Transport System As A Lifeline for Economic Growth,” pointed out that integrated transport system plays a central economic role, “as a source of opportunities for investment, employment, businesses, and the value chain in the transport network.”

The minister who was represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said: “I recommend that the government challenges the Ministry of Education (in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation) to introduce traffic education into the school curriculum, drawn from the Highway Code and the Traffic Law in primary, secondary and tertiary schools in order to raise knowledgeable drivers that will obey traffic laws.

“It is my believe that if this is properly implemented, Lagos State would have produced a new generation of motorists who are more educated and aware of their rights and duties on our motorways,”

In his speech, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu described the creation of LTR as “a noble idea” which has proven its relevance in the past 10 years, noting that the station has maintained a noble status as a “leader in its area of competence.”

He said the theme of the colloquium was apt and speaks directly to the goal his administration has been working strategically to achieve under the Transportation Management pillar of the THEMES Agenda.

“Our objective under this pillar is to transform the transportation system through an intermodal system that is efficient, safe and comfortable and befitting of a mega city like Lagos,” said the governor who was represented by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso .

He added that with the intermodal transportation system, the state has leveraged on the development of rail and water means of transportation and has continued to invest heavily in the same.