Curbing Accidents On Railway Tracks

Obedience is the mother of success and is wedded to safety– Aeschylus

This apt saying by Aeschylus conforms to cultures in an ideal society where there is sanity, godliness and patriotic rectitude. Whoever obeys rules and acts accordingly is at advantage of adequate safety and security. Such individual is contributing to the growth and development of his nation but reverse seems to be the case in Nigeria where lawlessness and impunity is order of the day.

Nigerians are wallowing in poverty and are capable of engaging in any activity that can guarantee the satisfaction of their appetitive desires whether legitimate or otherwise.

It is almost becoming a culture in our polity for people to trivialize security and safety around railway tracks.

People living around railway lines in Nigeria are often comfortable with trading, socializing and playing around the tracks without minding its consequences and the accompanying dangers. Motorists and other road users also do not find it rational to adhere to rules guiding the use of roads constructed along and across railway tracks.

The resultant damages of railway accidents could be irredeemable and at times if not death, there would be permanent disabilities. This is because railway is 100% metal and trains are almost unstoppable when moving.

It is even more worrisome when one realizes that Nigerians still die incessantly to railway accident despite the obvious sensitization on the dangers associated with playing on the tracks and safety precautions put in place by the authorities.

For instance, a young man was reportedly crushed to death recently by a moving train due to his carelessness around Ijora-Badia axis, Lagos. He was said to be carried away by the music he was enjoying on his head phone and despite efforts by observers to call his attention to the approaching train, he still fell victim.

Many parents have carelessly sacrificed their children’s life to this incident in the course of exposing them to playing on the tracks based on their impressions that when the train approaches they will be removed but unfortunately reverse is always the case.

A train’s horn is very loud and the vibration of the engine is often enough to signal the  coming of a distant train, but people still wait on the tracks with the impression that the train doesn’t move fast and this is very dangerous.

In a recent tour around railway tracks en-route Ijora-Badia , Apapa , Oshodi, Ebute Metta, Lagos,MMS Plus observed that Lagosians spread their goods on the tracks and only remove it when they hear the sound of a train approaching and they return to continue with their trade immediately the train passes.

It is true that due to the industrious nature of railway environment, small scale and petty businesses strive but people tend to downplay the need to prioritize safety over their various businesses.

Speaking exclusively with MMS Plus in Lagos, last week, the Director, Public Relations, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Yakub Mahmood said it has become part of Nigerians to disobey simple rules even when it affects them directly.

He said; “It is a major problem all over the country and we are trying our best to sensitize the people. The rail line passes through my village in Zaria and divided it into two, but people will ignorantly carry their chairs, sit on the tracks and listen to transistor radios believing that the trains might not come at that time. Unfortunately some of them will sleep off in the process and when the train approaches they wouldn’t be able to escape and the train will end up crushing them. Most of the structures and shanties built along rail lines are illegal. The law says any intended structures should be at least 60 meters away from the railway lines on both sides with approval from relevant authorities but people are found of encroaching”

The NRC spokesman also explained that it is an offence to be killed by train or for vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles to be involved in accident with a train that doesn’t derail. According to him, “the corpses in cases of deaths and the vehicles involved are liable to seizures and such persons or bodies would be charged to court where necessary sanctions would be melted out and in most cases, it will result into serious payment of damages running into millions.”

It is therefore important for government to intensify measures to encourage advocacy and consistent sensitization of citizens in this regards.

Government should help provide alternatives so that those occupying those dangerous routes along railway lines are relocated to safer places so as to allow them continue with their normal business activities and it is also germane that people give priority to their lives, by ensuring that they move away from the rail tracks whether there is movement of trains at that moment or not.

 

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