GROUP EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER NON COMPLIANCE WITH TRAFFIC RULES
By Mcanthony Onuoha
An advocacy group, National Compliance Joint Taskforce of Licensed Clearing Agents- NCJTFLCA has expressed concern over continued non compliance with traffic rules by commuters, especially, within Lagos metropolis.
HIGH CHIEF DR BASIL CHUDI NWOLISA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL COMPLIANCE JOINT TASK FORCE OF LICENSED CLEARING AGENTS (NCJTFLCA).
In a conversation with the Prestige Magazine Online in his Lagos office recently, the National President of NCJTFLCA, High Chief Dr Basil Chudi Nwolisa, lamented continued disregard for traffic rules, which he said, was the major cause of rising spate of road accidents recorded on Nigerian roads.
According to Nwolisa, ” something has been bothering me for the past one year. I have been looking at the situation, l have seen how helpless most Nigerians are, especially when it has to do with obeying traffic rules and regulations. Some vehicle owners do not pay attention to these laid down rules. Some refuse to even renew their papers on expiration. Some drive from Lagos to Abuja with worn out tyres. We keep battling with sheer lack of compliance and gross disrespect for laid down rules. Some road users fail to know that so long as one owns and drives a vehicle, he or she is expected to pay attention to every detail about the roadworthiness of that vehicle as well as traffic rules and regulations. This is very important because we are concerned about your life and that of other people.”
“The uncountable roadblocks we see on Nigerian roads are there, simply because the authorities know that citizens do not obey traffic rules. And l can tell you for free that 70% of those roadblocks are illegal. They are illegal because they are leveraging our disobedience to extort us and make quick money for themselves for not doing the right thing. You failed to put your vehicle or papers in order. To renew vehicle papers for a period of one year is about N40,000. And you choose to drive the vehicle without updating your papers for thirty days for instance, you will find out that you would lose over N30,000 to legal and illegal checkpoints. So it becomes wiser to put that vehicle or papers in order, than to keep parting with certain amount of money at every checkpoint.”
“Put your tyres and everything that has to do with your vehicle in order. I have heard about people whose vehicles broke down in the middle of nowhere, and they were exposed to attack by hoodlums or criminal elements who either vandalized the vehicles, or extorted them. So it is imperative that we do the right thing always. It is cheaper to obey the rules than to blatantly flout them.”
NCJTFLCA is also beckoning on the Nigeria Police, Lagos State, to genuinely tackle the issue of application of “one way” by motorcycle operators on Lagos highways to avoid loss of lives recorded on daily basis”.
“Those that are in freight forwarding business can really attest to the fact that once there is a little infraction especially in declaration, it costs you more, but if you pay your duty and a Customs officer looks at it and says it is okay and releases, nobody elsewhere has the right to disturb you. It is because we do not mount resistance, that is why they continue to harass and extort us, or oftentimes intercept already exited consignments. Do the right thing and face them squarely. You make more money when you do the right thing because you get to your destination in real time.”
“This is a message from the National Compliance Joint Taskforce of Licensed Clearing Agents-NCJTFLCA, and l pray that we all begin to see reasons why we should always do the right thing at all times. It will definitely make us to be more successful in what we do.”
NCJTFLCA is group that is genuinely committed to anti-corruption campaign. It was established to champion ethical trade practices and regulatory adherence within Nigeria’s maritime sector, advocating for efficiency and integrity in freight operations and other sectors of the economy.
