A federal republic in West Africa, Nigeria is a middle-income country with the population of 184 million. It is the most populous country in Africa, with one of the largest populations of youth in the world. According to the WHO, there are estimated 35,641 road traffic fatalities annually, over 30 per cent of which are attributed to speed violation. WHO suggests that Nigeria’s legislation on all road safety risk factors needs to be improved. Nigeria is currently implementing its National Road Safety Strategy aiming at reducing road traffic fatalities by half in 2020. Nigeria acceded to one out of six UN road safety conventions, the 1968 Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
The Special Envoy gave an overview of his role, mandate and key priorities as well as congratulated Nigeria on its government-funded National Road Safety Strategy with ambitious goals to halve road safety fatalities by 2020. They discussed potential strategies to improve road safety, including speed management, improved education and accession to UN Road Safety Conventions. The Vice-President expressed Nigeria’s commitment to advancing road safety and highlighted law enforcement as a critical issue to be addressed across Africa. The Special Envoy encouraged the Vice-President to share Nigeria’s best practices with countries in the sub-region and to become an example on the continent.
Dr. Habiba Lawal, Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation
The Special Envoy outlined key priorities of his mandate and his ongoing activities on road safety. The Special Envoy presented five pillars of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety and gave an overview of UN Road Safety Conventions. Acting Secretary expressed her gratitude to the Special Envoy for championing road safety globally and confirmed Nigeria’s commitment to reducing the number of road crashes. In the course of the meeting, the importance of holistic approach to road safety was discussed, as well as the benefits of the cross-sectoral collaboration within the country. The Special Envoy concluded by inviting the Government of Nigeria to consider acceding and successfully implementing all six UN Road Safety Conventions.
Prof. Issac Adewole, Minister of Health
The Special Envoy presented his mandate and priorities to the Minister and gave an overview of his recent activities on road safety. The Minister spoke about high economic cost of road crashes, including severe injuries. He also mentioned Ministry’s close collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps and joint activities, such as providing ambulance and emergency services to road crash victims and establishing a network of roadside clinics. The Special Envoy highlighted road safety in a human right context and shared the video of a UN High Commissioner for Human Right, Mr. Al Hussein, expressing that road safety is a basic human right.
Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Minister of Power, Housing and Works
The Special Envoy introduced his mandate and key priorities and shared about his recent activities. The statistics on road safety in Nigeria were highlighted and discussed, emphasizing the issue of data discrepancy between WHO and country reported figures. The Special Envoy offered some potential solutions for advancing road safety, such as speed management, law enforcement and better education. The Minister assured the Special Envoy of the government’s commitment to road safety, including beyond the Decade of Action. They further discussed potential ways to improve road safety situation in Nigeria, including through accession to the UN Road Safety Conventions. To date, Nigeria is a contracting party to the 1968 Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria
The Special Envoy presented his role, mandate and key priorities and gave an overview of his recent activities and missions. Mr. Benmessaoud shared about World Bank’s operations in Nigeria, and highlighted that renewable sources of power, agriculture and health, were among top priorities for the World Bank in the country. He shared about World Bank’s efforts in reforming Nigeria’s monetary policies, power sector and social protection. Together with the Special Envoy, they discussed opportunities for collaboration, while emphasizing a large gap in analytical work.
Visit to the Federal Road Safety Corps Facilities (FRSC)
The Special Envoy visited the Federal Road Safety Corps were the National Road Traffic Crash Data Management System was presented to him by Corps Marshal Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi. The Special Envoy congratulated the FRSC for their leadership and highlighted the importance of the data collection system, which would contribute to better statistics across the nation. They further discussed the importance of stronger cross-sectoral coordination and collaboration with relevant stakeholders. The Special Envoy encouraged the FRSC to share their experience and best practices with other countries in the region as well as offered the support of his Secretariat to provided technical assistance.
United Nations Country Team in Nigeria
The Special Envoy met with the UN Country Team and gave an overview of his mandate and key priorities. Members of the Country Team shared about their on-going activities in Nigeria and challenges, such as data collection and management. It was mentioned that data collection issue persists across Africa, although some minor progress is being made. The Special Envoy encouraged UNCT’s collaboration with the Multilateral Development Banks and other international donors. The Resident Coordinator shared about the UN Sustainable Development Partnership Framework 2018-2022, which has been recently signed and has the following priorities: (1) Governance Human Rights, Peace and Security; (2) Equitable Quality Basic Services, and, (3) Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth and Development. The following members of the UNCT were present at the meeting:
o Mr. Edward Kallon, UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
o Mr. Dennis Zulu, Director, ILO
o Mr. Samuel Bwalya, Country Director, UNDP
o Ms. Enira Krdzalic Chief of Mission, IOM
o Mr. Adonri Osaretin, Asst. Representative/ OIC, UNFPA
o Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu, Representative, WHO
o Mr. Julien Frederic Harnies, Head of Office, OCHA
o Mr. Tommy Bruce, Senior Field Safety Security Officer, UNHCR
o Mr. Jonathan Addo, Security Officer, UNICEF
o Mr. Andrei Bobylev, Chief Security Adviser, UNDSS
o Mr. Zebulon Takwa, Peace & Development Adviser, RCO
o Mr. Lucky Musonda, Communication Specialist, UNDP
o Mr. Matthew Alao, Conflict Prevention & Peace Building Analyst, UNDP
o Mr. Frederic Eno, Special Assistant to HC, RCO
o Ms. Elina Siren, Special Assistant to RC, RCO
o Mr. Gregory Chenge, Coordination Associate, RCO