December 14, (THEWILL) – Dangote Cement Plc, Ibase, has embarked on a road safety campaign and distribution of kits to commercial motorists and motorcyclists to ensure accident- free transportation during the Yuletide period.
The company also declared intentions to partner with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to help in the recruitment, training and monitoring of its drivers to reduce crashes of Dangote trucks on the roads
The Plant Director, Dangote Cement, Ibese, Mr.Azad Nawabuddin said that the company decided to provide hundreds of C-Caution, 500 reflective jackets and 100 helmets for motorcyclists and other participants in order to reduce road crashes to the barest minimum.
According to him, beyond the reduction of road crashes, the company was targeting zero accidents especially during festive periods when the roads are usually congested hence the need to embark on the safety awareness campaign.
Nawabuddin, while explaining the theme for the Campaign, “Use Road Like Person Wey Sabi”, urged Dangote truck drivers, commercial drivers and motorcyclists operating in and around the Plant, as well as other members of its communities to be cautious when using the roads especially during the festive period
He said “I therefore enjoin all these actors on our roads who are well represented here today to learn and imbibe necessary tips to improve their use of the road in a professional manner and help cascade the safety messages to their colleagues hereafter.”
“We, as Government, Corporate Organisations, Communities and Individuals must all join hands and play our part in ensuring safety on our roads because safety is a collective responsibility.”
“Earlier today, we had taken the road safety campaign to our neighbouring communities via road shows coordinated by FRSC and our employee Volunteers in recognition of the communities as our key stakeholders and partners.”
“I am glad that the messages were well received, and it is our hope this will drive some attitudinal change in the way we use the road.” he added.
Similarly, the assistant director of transport in charge of safety and operation in Dangote Cement, Mr. Sanusi Iskilu divulged that the company is fixing board cameras on its trucks so as to help in achieving the zero-accident target.
Iskilu noted that the company also employed the service of external stakeholders who give feedback on the performances of its drivers, saying that the company had a lot of initiatives that were taken on board to reduce roads accident in recent times
He said ” In recent years, you will discover that our accidents have reduced drastically and we have improved. Strategically, we have been able to fix onboard cameras on some of our trucks.
So, we are able to see drivers in transit in their cabin and they are cautioned as well. We have external stakeholders that give feedback of our drivers performance in transit for us to immediately act and ensure that they are monitored and they are strictly brought under control.” he stressed
He opined that the awareness campaign started with reduction in road crashes and has moved from campaign to accident-free which he said had given the company credibility from the public apart from the regulatory agencies.
Earlier in his lecture, the FRSC Commander, Caleb Yerima maintained that every road user needs to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations commending Dangote cement for embarking on the awareness campaign and the training of its truck drivers so as to help in reducing accidents on Nigeria roads.
“Dangote has been doing that; that is why they engage their staff in different training to enhance their performance. For spending billions of naira to purchase vehicles, it means that it also needs training to preserve the vehicles. We cannot just hand over investments to someone that doesn’t know how to use it. And that is why training and retraining is very important.” he stated
One of the beneficiary receiving kit
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