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Somebody Please Stop Julius Berger Drivers! By Abdullahi Usman
Only two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
Anybody plying the ever - busy Lekki - Epe Expressway in Lagos on a regular basis cannot help noticing the daily antics of the dreaded Julius Berger Nigeria Plc drivers, who ferry the company’s labourers to their various construction sites scattered around the metropolis. These drivers, who can be seen conveying mostly non-skilled workers in company - owned trailers and trucks that can only be fit for transporting animals to the slaughterhouse, thrive on intimidating other road users with reckless abandon.
As early as 5:30am, well before the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) operatives resume work, several of these monstrous vehicles will typically set out from the Epe end of the road in their usual break-neck speed, intermittently blaring their nerve-racking loud horns and flashing their amber lights strategically placed at the top of the trucks’ head in such a manner as to scare lesser mortals off the road. Their modus operandi involves moving from one lane to the other in frightening fashion and, where none of the two lanes is moving as a result traffic congestion, they will simply move over to the shoulder on the extreme right hand side of the road. Should any obstacle block the forced third route they have created on the road shoulder, they simply force their way back onto the main road with scant regard for others. This is often done amid roars of cheers for the truck driver from the labourers on board or insults being heaped by them on the hapless car owners so intimidated. The same attitude is repeated during the return journey later on at night as the vehicles are conveying the workers back to their respective places of abode; again, at a time the highly resourceful LASTMA personnel would have closed for the day.
When I first noticed the incident a few months back, I was tempted to believe that I might just have witnessed an isolated case being perpetrated by some headstrong or lunatic driver, until I decided to start recording the registration numbers of the vehicles involved. A close observation of the offending vehicles revealed that this is, indeed, not the exclusive preserve of a single driver, as virtually all of them are involved in this deplorable act. Usually, when something happens for the first time, it is often thought to be an accident or happenstance; when it happens again, it is considered a coincidence; but when the same thing gets repeated a third time or more, it becomes an established trend that cannot simply be ignored. What this extremely unacceptable conduct by Julius Berger truck drivers basically connotes is that they may either have no corporate Code of Conduct guiding their behaviour behind the wheels or they simply have scant regard for it, in the event that one does exist. Either way, the company that employs them cannot escape corporate culpability for their action, as well as the possible dire consequences that such action may engender.
A case in point is the news report in the weekly community newspaper, Island News Vol. 7 No. 225 edition of November 26, 2007 complete with the picture of the mangled legs of the unfortunate victim of an accident involving a Julius Berger truck, just moments before he breathed his last. The accident, which occurred around the Chevron roundabout on Tuesday, November 20, 2007, resulted in the burning down of the offending vehicle after the “driver of the Julius Berger truck absconded form the scene of the crash out of fear of being mobbed”. I had my own close shave with one of such unruly drivers around 8.30 pm on December 6, 2007, when a trailer in the company’s colours with registration number XL 641 ABC hounded me off the road just after the Ikota Shopping Complex around VGC, on my way home. The following morning, I narrated my experience to some of my colleagues who live within the same axis, only for one of them to call me later that night with her own tales of a similar treatment that was meted out to her by another vehicle belonging to the same company. On the third consecutive day, Saturday, December 8, 2007, I was confronted by the rather unbelievable sight of two Julius Berger trailers with registration numbers XL 972 ABC and XL 987 ABC literally racing against each other around 6:15 pm along the very busy road opposite the Ajah market, to the obvious delight of the passengers they were conveying!
I strongly believe that the time has finally come for the relevant government agencies such as the Nigeria Police, LASTMA and the Federal Road Safety Corporation (FRSC) to come together and save us all from the menace posed by these unruly drivers that are fast becoming a law unto themselves, since the company that employs them appears either unwilling or unable to rein in their staff. For a start, all of them should be subjected to mandatory psychiatric tests to ascertain their level of sanity, as well as daily drugs and alcohol tests to ensure that they are not driving under any hallucinating influences. The drivers also need to be continuously reminded of the immense havoc and agony their colleagues caused hapless road users in Abuja during the late 80s to the early 90s to enable them grasp the extent of the dangers they pose to others who have equal rights of access on the roads. There is, perhaps, no better time to do that than the forthcoming Long Service Award Ceremony, during which the company plans to reward 176 of its staff that have served it for between 20 and 35 years. They must simply be made to appreciate the strong need to exercise utmost caution in the handling of the gigantic vehicles they are saddled with driving because, as Jack Schaefer (SHANE), rightly notes, “a gun is as good - and as bad - as the man who carries it!”
In a related development, I stumbled upon a very interesting campaign by a Lagos - based privately - owned radio station, Cool FM, sometime last week, in which the irrepressible presenter, Olisa Adebua, was attempting to enlist the support of listeners to stop the planned felling of an estimated 2,000 trees in the course of the on - going construction works being carried out by Julius Berger along Bourdillon Road within the old Ikoyi axis. This location, which bears several trees that are arguably as old as even Ikoyi itself, represents the area with perhaps the largest concentration of trees within the Lagos metropolis. It is, therefore, very disheartening that such an extreme course of action - for whatever purpose - is even being contemplated at all, and one can only wonder what the view of the numerous environmentalist groups, as well as the hugely influential Victoria Island and Ikoyi Residents Association (VIIRA) is, in all of this.
Nobody is saying that the construction of new roads or expansion of existing ones to cope with the growing human traffic is not important but, in saner societies, concerted efforts aimed at maintaining the very delicate ecological balance are always factored into the equation at the very beginning. A specific case in point is the stringent evaluation process that preceded the final approval for the conversion of the Farnborough Airport in the UK for civilian use. This pioneer airport, which I visited on October 4, 2006 along with other participants attending a training organized by the Energy Institute, London, was, for many years a military airport operated by the British Military of Defense (MoD). It was, however, bought over a few years ago by the foremost Swiss avant-garde luxury watchmaker, TAG Heuer, which eventually converted it for civilian use.
In the course of this conversion process, the runway had to essentially be extended to accommodate larger aircraft and this would have entailed the felling of several iconic pine trees treasured by the British, just as there was also the need to flatten a portion of the hills on the approach to the airport. This attempt at reconfiguring the airport generated a lot of heated debates among environmentalists, government and the sponsoring organisation and, in the end, it was resolved that the hills would only be clipped slightly at the top. But, even then, the parts so removed had to be arranged in a separate area in such a manner as to replicate the same landmark pattern within the general area of the airport. As a result of the obvious restrictions imposed by this strict stance on the part of the authorities, the landing approach had to be changed to the take-off point and vice - versa.
As regards the pine trees, it was decided
that rather than felling them outright, they would all be delicately
uprooted and moved to other sites, but not before all the animals - large
and small - and smaller reptiles that lived within the area were similarly
relocated. The airport guide - a very experienced personnel steeped in the
rich history of this famous airport - informed us that after expending
well over £37,000 (about
The control tower is also something to marvel at, by virtue of its sheer height. In response to my enquiry as to why it was built so high, he stated that although they could not secure approval to prune the adjoining gigantic pine tree beyond a certain height, the tower still had to be sited there in order to get a clear view of all approaching and departing aircraft. The only solution, therefore, was to raise the tower over and above the towering pine tree, regardless of the obvious cost implications such an action would engender. This is nothing short of the proverbial win-win situation in which TAG Heuer was able to go ahead with its planned project without significantly upsetting the general topographical and ecological make up of its operational area. Today, Farnborough Airport, which is reputed to be the most expensive in Britain, caters to an ever - expanding exclusive clientele niche of the super rich. And, for good measure, the guide lamented how we just missed the chance to see the entire Chelsea FC team, which jetted in through the airport moments before our visit.
The above practical example aptly demonstrates that, with the right attitude, there will always be a workable way around these issues. The Lagos State government which, I believe, is the sponsor of the Bourdillon Road reconstruction project, must, therefore, ensure that a similar approach of either sparing or relocating as many of these trees as possible is adopted rather than chopping them outright. In so doing, the government must bear in mind the dreaded consequences of the institutionalized depletion of the ozone layer and the resulting contribution to the often repeated mantra of the global warming phenomenon that such an action would entail. We must, therefore, avoid this drastic action; if not for the sake of the hapless trees, then certainly for our own sake as well as that of succeeding generations coming after us. In the words of Stewars Udall, “plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are, in fact, plans to protect man”.
Abdullahi Usman (December 8, 2007) |