The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has inducted more than 100 LASTMA Mayors into an expanded volunteer network to promote traffic safety and support traffic management during the forthcoming festive season.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, said this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.
Bakare-Oki said the initiative was aimed at strengthening grassroots participation, promoting traffic enlightenment and improving operational preparedness ahead of the Ember Months and Detty December festivities.
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He added that the investiture, rebranding and induction ceremony was designed to mobilise communities and encourage voluntary support for orderly traffic management across the state.
“The onerous responsibility of effective traffic administration cannot be left exclusively to governmental institutions.
“Sustainable mobility governance is predicated upon collective ownership, shared accountability and the conscientious participation of citizens.
“The enlistment of over 100 LASTMA Mayors will substantially reinforce the agency’s public enlightenment architecture and augment its community-based operational support through voluntary interventions, grassroots advocacy, motorists’ sensitisation and the widespread dissemination of traffic safety information,” he said.
The LASTMA boss said the initiative would complement the statutory responsibilities and field operations of uniformed personnel.
He said it would also promote an integrated and responsive traffic management framework to address increased vehicular movements during the festive period.
Bakare-Oki described the LASTMA Mayors as community liaison ambassadors whose grassroots influence would promote traffic discipline and responsible road use.
He said their proximity to residents, commercial transport operators, market executives and other stakeholders would facilitate traffic advocacy and voluntary compliance.
In a related development, Bakare-Oki urged Christian and Islamic religious leaders to support the agency’s road safety campaign.
He called on clerics to use their moral influence and congregational platforms to promote responsible motoring and compliance with traffic regulations.
He urged pastors, imams and other religious leaders to incorporate road safety messages into sermons, religious gatherings and fellowship programmes.
Bakare-Oki also admonished religious leaders to warn motorists against dangerous practices, including driving against traffic, excessive speeding, reckless overtaking and indiscriminate parking.
He said such violations could cause fatal road crashes and extensive property damage.
Bakare-Oki cautioned that the festive celebrations and social activities must not lead to traffic indiscipline or preventable road tragedies.
The Director, Traffic Advocacy and Special Mayors, Mr Jimmy Awoyemi, reaffirmed LASTMA’s commitment to intensifying traffic deployment, surveillance, motorists’ enlightenment and inter-agency collaboration.
He said the measures would enhance vehicular mobility, pedestrian safety and traffic circulation across critical transportation corridors during the festive period.
The Coordinator of the State Mayors of Traffic (SMT), Mr Tajudeen Othman, assured the state government and LASTMA management of the volunteers’ commitment to discharging their duties with diligence, integrity and discipline.
He also pledged their cooperation with members of the public in promoting orderly traffic management.
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