Fatal Roads, Overlooked Lives: The Case for Urgent Road Safety in Nigeria

Roads contribute to almost all economic and social development processes, facilitating trade and transportation. Notwithstanding, they also come with significant risks, particularly road accidents, which have become a major global health crisis, causing millions of deaths and severe injuries each year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, road traffic accidents are among the leading causes of death and disability globally. Approximately 1.3 million people die in traffic accidents annually, with over 90% of these fatalities occurring in low-and middle-income countries, especially in Africa.

African countries report the world’s heaviest burden of road traffic mortality index at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 citizens  – a figure significantly higher than the global average of 18.2 deaths per 100,000. Such constructs result primarily from inadequate road infrastructure, inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws, and limited emergency response resources. In Nigeria, road traffic incidents claim over 40,000 lives annually—a toll surpassing fatalities from insurgency and other violent conflicts. Despite the scale of the problem, road safety is often overshadowed by other national priorities, stalling progress toward reducing road traffic incidents. The staggering figure underscores a pressing public health crisis and the broader challenges Nigeria faces in governance, infrastructure development, and public safety. This edition of the Nextier SPD Policy Weekly makes a case for urgent and comprehensive interventions to reduce road traffic fatalities in Nigeria.

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