The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Otun-Ekiti branch, Ekiti State, on Wednesday charged its members to abide by the prescribed protocol towards curbing the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mr Nathaniel Bamidele, the Union’s Branch Chairman, gave the charge during a sensitisation seminar for members in Otun-Ekiti.
Bamidele said the seminar was organised to educate members on their responsibility in adherence to various government measures and directives on COVID-19.
According to him, the sensitisation became imperative for members and officials to guard against flouting the COVID-19 protocol.
He described the union as an integral part of the socio-economic development of the nation, adding that members have specific roles to play in assisting government and other stakeholders to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
He, therefore, charged members of the union to always cooperate with security agencies in ensuring safe, smooth and uninterrupted vehicular movement at all times.
“We are expected to conduct ourselves in line with various measures and guidelines, so as not to jeopardise the efforts toward curtailing the spread of the deadly virus.
“Apart from maintaining physical distancing by limiting the number of our passengers, we should also ensure that our passengers, at every point in time, put on their face masks in addition to other preventive measures on COVID-19,” Bamidele added.
Mr Clement Adeagbo, Chief Executive Officer, Sofex Consult, in a lecture, advised the union members to always obey road traffic signs and regulations to stay alive.
Adeagbo urged the members to also imbibe the habit of respecting other road users in order to guarantee the safety of all.
According to him, majority of road crashes, whether fatal or minor, are always attributable to avoidable human errors.
“We are gradually approaching the Muslim Sallah celebration later in the month and this is a period notable for sudden increase in the volume of traffic and we are duty bound to exercise caution in our operations.
“We don’t need to engage in verbal war with colleagues or law enforcement officers while on the road so as not cause unnecessary obstruction to other road users,” he said.
He advised the union members to ensure regular medical checks to ascertain their fitness, especially the eyes.
“More importantly, we should imbibe the habit of checking and rechecking our vehicles for major and minor faults before and after every journey in order to avert unwarranted crashes,”Adeagbo said.
