By Fatima Zahra Muhammad
ASHENEWS reports that the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Minna branch has urged the present administration under the leadership of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to prioritize the standard of roads in the states in a bid to safeguard lives and properties.
The outgoing Chairman of the NSE in Niger State, Prof. Abdulkarim Nasir stated this during the 2023 Annual General Meeting and Induction of new members held in Minna on Saturday.
Nasir maintained that road audits were important in safeguarding lives and properties in the face of increased road crashes in the state.
He said that the recent funding obtained by the state government to revamp roads in the state should translate to projects which are of standard quality.
“Everything about roads is about engineers. It is our job to make sure we keep our roads safe.
“Road audits allow us to know the state of our roads, it tells us the type of damage on the roads and what can be done to address it.
“Niger State has gotten support to repair its roads. If the state government leverages this support and goes for quality, road crashes would be reduced.
“It’s not just seeing a pothole on the road but you need to know the type of pothole and what needs to be done about it.”
Nasir advised the state government to support the state’s Road Safety Council in addressing the challenges of poor road networks.
The outgoing Chairman also appealed to the Niger dtate government to uphold the allocation of the land earlier approved to the society by the past administration.
Delivering a lecture on the topic, “Road Audit As A Panacea Towards Road Traffic Crash Reduction In Niger”, the Niger state Sector Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Kumar Tsukwam identified road audits as a multi-sectoral approach towards preventing avoidable casualties resulting from road crashes.
“When road audits are carried out, the danger spots are identified. This is why we encourage that when road construction is carried out, all other stakeholders are involved so that we don’t neglect the safety aspect of road construction.
“It isn’t about building roads and leaving the safety aspect but we need to be on the safe page towards ensuring standards of Nigerian roads.”
He attributed the prevalence of road crashes in Niger State to non-compliance with traffic rules.
According to him over 450 lives have been lost to road crashes in Niger State from January 2023 till date.
The NSE earlier held an election where executives emerged to lead the affairs of the society for the next two years.
Those elected included Engr. Dr. Liman Yerima as Chairman, Engr. Amina Saidu as Vice Chairman, Engr Ndagi Nmaman as Secretary General, Felix Thomas as Assistant Secretary General, Kawu Abubakar as Technical Secretary, and Engr. Solomon Ibrahim as the Financial Secretary.
Others included Jatau Ayuba as the Publicity Secretary, Engr Sadiya Suleiman as Treasurer, and Engr Muhammad Abdullahi was elected as an ex-officio member of the society.
In his acceptance speech, the newly elected Chairman of NSE, Minna Branch, Engr. Dr. Liman Yerima pledged to pursue professional excellence as a key mandate of his administration.
“We shall strongly advocate for the right placement of engineers across the state civil service.
“We shall also deploy tools at our disposal to see that our branch secretariat is completed,” he said.
