In order to reduce the spate of road accidents occasioned by the upgrade and road expansions across the state, the Oyo state chapter of Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has collaborated with a Non Governmental Organisation, Gates of Praise (GOP) Foundation, Nigeria on massive marking of roads with zebra crossing signs across the state.
The latest marking which held opposite the main gate of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan was observed by top officials of the hospital, NAWOJ, GOP, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Orientation Agency (NOA) among others.
The top officials who took turns to carry out the symbolic marking of the road at a brief ceremony said the move is so important in the face of reckless driving by many drivers and hardship faced by pedestrians to access the road, especially to the hospital.
The zebra crossing commissioning which was flagged off by the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Prof Abiodun Otegbayo was also attended by GOP Founder, Mr Akinwale Laosun, NAWOJ chairperson, Comrade Jadesola Ajibola among others.
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According to the NAWOJ chairperson, the zebra crossing became necessary in front of UCH, going by the influx of people crossing the road to access the healthcare facility, adding that NAWOJ is not only doing it for UCH as an organisation but for the safety of Nigerians considering the efficiency of UCH to the people.
“Considering the numbers of people crossing this road to access the healthcare facility, we decided to do the zebra crossing so that it will be easier for our people to cross conveniently and safely. After our discussion with the founder of Gate of Praise (GOP) Foundation Nigeria, Mr Akinwale Laosun, he gave us his support to ensure the safety of lives of our people because we know that UCH is not only rendering service to Oyo state residents alone but Nigeria and the world at large.
“This is not the first place we are marking. We have done this for about ten public and private schools across the state and also inaugurated the road safety clubs so that students can have easy access to their schools during the session and we are still doing more,” she stated.
Speaking in the same vein, GOP Founder, Laosun who was represented by the NGOs spokesperson, Mr Yinka Adeniran, noted that the organisation decided to support the course because of its belief in the essence of life.
Laosun explained that people using the roads on wheels must also learn to respect those on feet by giving them a right of way as fellow road users, adding that people must learn to respect the use of zebra crossing as a sign of respect and culture in saving lives.
He assured that the organisation will do more for public and private schools in addition to the about ten that had been done in the last three months, so that road users especially students will be more respected while on the roadsides to cross the road to their schools
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