The Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos; Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, FAS, has advocated the need for every Nigerian to embrace the duty of care and safety while handling public utilities and infrastructures.
This, according to the Vice Chancellor, would help forestall avoidable accidents and loss of infrastructures as well as preserve the huge volume of resources wasted on replacements.
Professor Ogundipe made this known in his remarks to wrap up a sensitization programme for Cab and Bus drivers on Fire and Car Safety on the University Campus.
The 8-day Sensitization Training which held from Wednesday April 14 to Wednesday April 21, 2021, at the Conference Room of the UNILAG Fire Services Unit saw Professor Ogundipe who was represented Chairman, UNILAG Committee on Transport; Professor Iyiola Oni, bemoaning the ugly sight of damaged public infrastructures littering various parts of the country, which were lost to inferno, a situation which he said could have been averted if Users had been more careful and safety conscious.
Prof. Oni who spoke through Dr. Vide Adedayo of the Department of Geography congratulated the participants and implored them to put the knowledge acquired to good use so as to forestall any further loss of public facilities to avoidable accidents and further enhance safety on UNILAG campus.
Prof Oni had, earlier at the opening ceremony, charged the driver on the need to always have a fire extinguisher in their cabs in case of any emergency. He also stressed the need for the drivers to regularly carry out thorough checks on their vehicles before getting on the road.
In his remarks, The Head of fire service (UNILAG); Fire Officer Jimoh Wasiu enumerated some of the challenges often encountered by the Fire Service team which sometimes, causes delay in arriving at a fire scene.
Participants at the sensitization exercise were taken through tips on how to handle fire emergencies, ensure vehicle safety as well as a simulation exercise on how to handle fire extinguishers in emergency situations.
