Ahead of the Yuletide hustling and bustling, Nigerians have been charged to always take safety and security issues as serious business in order to minimise the number of casualties in every facet of the society.
The admonition was given by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Nigerian Chapter, at the weekend during the society’s bi-monthly General Meeting held at the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, Warri, Delta State.
President of ASSE, Nigerian Chapter, Herbert Nwaka, observed that an average Nigerian thought safety and security were the business of oil and gas workers, adding that the non-challant attitude had resulted in a lot of avoidable deaths and injuries in the country.
He said it was disheartening to notice that the average Nigerian man did not take safety issues seriously.
According to him, the only sector where safety was visible was in the oil and gas industry, which he noted, was not good enough for Nigeria.
He maintained that it was high time safety issues were taken seriously in the country because people encountered safety in their everyday life.
Nwaka stressed that Nigerians must begin to practise safety from their homes and also train their children and families on the need to be safety conscious at all times.
“I just came back from the Global World Safety Summit where all the world safety leaders met in Chicago two months ago and it was an eye-opener and fulfilling.
From that gathering, I discovered that, we are just beginners when it comes to practice of safety.
In Nigeria, safety is only practised in the oil and gas industry and we have not achieved even 65 per cent.
There is safety in the home, the hospitals, law firms and everywhere. We have a lot of jobs in our hands.
We have to make people understand that safety is not all about oil and gas.
You need to start the practice of safety from your homes. You have to teach your children about safety.
I will say that Nigeria has a long way to go when it come to safety,” he declared.