Lagos govt expresses commitment to free flow of traffic, safety on roads

Lagos State Government has expressed commitment to support initiatives towards ensuring free traffic flow and safety on roads across the state, in line with the THEME Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, which listed transportation as the first item of its agenda.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Engnr. Gbolahan Toriola gave the pledge on Wednesday, during the official launch of the “FindMech” automobile application, by FindMech Firm, in collaboration with the Auto Mechanics Association of Nigeria (AMAN) and Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA) at Ikeja, Lagos.

Toriola said the government would continue to ensure free traffic flow and safety on roads across the state, in agreement with the THEME Agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration.

FindMech is an innovative online auto application designed to connect vehicle owners to professional automobile technicians for appropriate diagnosis of their vehicles and allow experts to handle the necessary repairs, thereby eliminating the influencing quackery.

Toriola, who noted that one of the major causes of traffic gridlock remained the breakdown of vehicles and road accidents due to the poor state of vehicles plying the roads, commended the initiative, describing it as critical and dynamic, which he said would go a long way in solving traffic gridlock, and making roads across the state very safe and seamless to motorists.

Toriola, while alluding to the fact that vehicles could break down any moment, with attendant traffic gridlock, said the App, besides offering an avenue to owners to secure professional automobile technicians to work on them, would also “help us move the vehicles away in good time.”

“Our concern is that the road is free and safe to drive on at all times. If you have a breakdown and don’t move the vehicle away and get somebody to fix it, the problem will persist and possibly cause an impediment on the road. Transport is the dynamic wheel of any viable economy,” he said.

He assured the FindMech Auto of the state government’s support, saying that its innovation in addressing challenges in the automobile field and eradicating quackery would benefit vehicle owners and all road users.

Toriola charged the body to be up and ensured that it’s rating in public view was protected.

Earlier, NATA President Engr. Magaji Muhammad Sani also applauded the innovation, saying that it could not have come at a better time than now as it would bring succor to the motorists and “boost the economic viability of our members nationwide.”

He lamented that the auto technician’s business “which hitherto is practiced by only professionals, is today bedeviled with quackery.”

“So, FindMech, when it eventually becomes operational, will not only checkmate these sharp practices but will also go a long way in giving motorists the best auto mechanics services while directing them to the closet available professional auto mechanics when their vehicles eventually breakdown,” Sani said.

He said NATA would partner with FindMech to promote the services of its professional members to be at par with industry best practices.

Speaking earlier, Managing Director of FindMech, Mr. Oladipupo Akinfaye, said the App, info@findmech.com, would no doubt help in reducing the perennial traffic problem on the road, which he said was often caused by vehicle breakdowns” which in most cases occupy a fraction of the road and if not attended to in good time cause traffic gridlock.”

According to him, it will also solve the problem of quackery in the automobile repairs industry in the country, noting that many had lost their vehicles to the menace of quacks who paraded themselves as experts.

“They exploit unsuspecting victims and yet find no solution to their vehicles’ problems. Only qualified and rated technicians with expertise in different brands of vehicles are listed on our Auto App,” he said.

The MD vowed to checkmate the ugly trend of quacks in the sector, assuring that vehicle owners in Nigeria would no longer be exposed to the exploitation and agonies of unqualified auto technicians and quacks.

“Nigeria is a developing country with hardworking citizens who work hard to earn their living, so the time has come to arrest the trends and activities of quacks in the industry,” he stated.

Akinfaye said qualified technicians across all areas of the automobile industry with up-to-date knowledge were pulled into a single structure called “Find Mech,” designed to enable vehicle owners, including corporate organizations, to find professionals around where they were.

He assured that car owners could easily access the services of qualified automobile professionals within the location where they experienced challenges with their vehicles. According to him, a qualified technician will be just a phone call away.

Dignitaries and organizations at the official launch included representatives of the Lagos State Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), officials of the Road Transport Employer Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), executives of NATA and other similar umbrella associations of auto technicians from all the states in the country.