...'Ember Months' is a Myth-DG LASEMA Dr. Oke-Osanyintolu
AgegePulse Magazine
While still celebrating the successful cross over into the new year, LASEMA Response Team from it's Cappa Base made the Agency's first recovery of the year at Ile Zik Inward Dopemu, along Lagos – Abeokuta expressway yesterday.
Upon arrival at the scene of the incident for recovery operation in what turned out to be the first incident of Year2020, it was discovered by the Response Team that the containerized truck with unknown registration fell on it's side due to mechanical malfunction, constituting obstruction to vehicular activities along the express road.
However, no loss of lives were recorded, nor were injuries sustained during the successful recovery operation conducted using the Agency's heavy duty equipment - the Super Metro, to recover the containerized truck off the express road.
Commenting on the incident, the DG/CEO of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu said that scientifically, this most recent incident has further debunked the mythical assertions to the "ember" months to which a lot of people erroneously attribute road crashes and other disasters.
"Scientifically, this accident of the containerized truck with unknown registration that fell on it's side on first day of the Year2020, did not fall due to the date or months of this new year, rather, it fell due to the fact that the truck developed a mechanical malfunction.
"This incident goes to prove that if this, and other truck owners do the needful in terms of proper maintenance of their fleet, training and retraining of their drivers, as well as ensuring that appropriate precautions are taken, such incidents will surely be averted to it's barest minimum, if not completely eradicated.
" This is why LASEMA is moving on to it's next level of incident prevention this Year2020 with increased enlightenment and even it's catch-them-young School Advocacy programs in order to educate the upcoming generation and inculcate appropriate safety precautions in their lifestyles from their growing years, so that they will not depart from it when they are fully formed".
Going further, Dr. Oke-Osanyintolu asserted that it was important to enlighten the present population of active adults on safety measures, prevention of emergencies and by extension, disasters, continuing that several scientific researches has proven that it takes a minimum of ten years - one decade, to achieve attitudinal change.
" Due to the long time it takes to achieve attitudinal change, it's also imperative that we go beyond this present generation of adults to groom the upcoming generations on safety measures, emergency/disaster prevention, at home, schools, corporate offices, places of worship with large gatherings of people. Today's children are tomorrow's adults which makes it imperative that they must be included in LASEMA's emergency/disaster prevention programs because Emergency/Disaster Management is Everyone's Business".
Aside the LASEMA Rescue Team that performed the successful operation, other responders present at the incident scene included LASTMA, FRSC and officers of the Nigerian Police Force who were controlling traffic, while the Police also provided security all through the recovery operation.
NOS∆ OKUNBOR
