An assessment of problems facing FRSC corps in the enforcement of traffic laws on highways
Introduction
Although transportation has liberated man and makes him more mobile, his increasing reliance on vehicular movement has conferred great facilities on him and his activities. The greatest culprit of all the modes of transport is road of which traffic accident is the most disturbing repercussion of its use. Road traffic accident is therefore an issue of great international concern as it has emerged as the single greatest source of death all over the world. In the developing countries where the number of motor vehicles relating to population is generally much lower than in the developed countries, fatalities from automobile crashes are higher. It has been shown, for instance, that accidents in developing countries cost almost one percent of these countries Annual Gross National Product utilizing scarce financial resources they can ill-afford to lose (Akpoghomeh, 1998).
Nigeria, with a total land area of 910,771 square kilometres and human population of about 167 million, is the most populous country in Africa, and the 7th most populous nation in the world. Its large land mass and burgeoning population correlate with its high level of vehicular population estimated at over 7.6 million with a total road length of about 194,000 kilometres (comprising 34, 120 km federal, 30,500 Km, State and 129,580 km of local roads). Nigeria ranked as the country with the second largest road network in Africa in 2011. Its population density which varies in rural and urban areas (approximately 51.7% and 48.3% respectively) translates to a population- road ratio of 860 persons per square kilometres indicating intense traffic pressure on the available road network. This pressure contributes to the high road traffic accidents in the country (FRSC, 2012).
The Nigeria situation has reached such an alarming proportion even to the point of sheer frustration and near helplessness. Nigeria continues to feature in the bottom half of World Health Organisation country rankings of road traffic accidents. The country’s 149th ranking in 2009 out of 178 member states indicates the hazards associated with road transportation in a country that is largely dependent on its road network for economic, social and physical activities
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