School pupils in Nigeria are not properly secured. The safety of our pupils are left in the hands of the school bus drivers whom in most cases render professional driving skills to pick up children from various pick up point to the school and at close of school hours back to the children’s various homes, at poor remuneration and visible untidy clothes, for such a favour done to the school and to the parents. I want to state unequivocally that parents should demand appreciable salary for school bus drivers, who drive their little princesses and Princes safely to school and back.
Taking Lagos State as an example, school owners must do more to ensure that the school buses are in perfect condition.
They must also be branded with legible names. What observers see most times is “Educational” either written with italics or larger fonts. But are these branding enough compared to the risk posed as a challenge everyday on the drivers and the children?
As early as 6:30am, drivers of different schools pick up these pupils, some with assistant drivers or conductors, but largely, the drivers do not have assistants. This is a fundamental error and for many reasons, if an emergency happens inside the buses, the school bus driver may panic and before he will have the initiative to control whatever emergency time may click against him. And the emergency may even need immediate attention, which he cannot offer, because he is concentrating on the steering. That is why an assistant driver or a conductor is needed to help with the children while the driver navigates the road.
Many Lagos drivers exhibit road rage for no just cause. They rush and chase at nobody. They disobey indicators and struggle with their own steering, cursing and generally fighting to keep up on the road. This condition or situation is abnormal and it has become a thing to stay.
It is worrisome to see a school bus filled with pre-school or primary school pupils “struggle on the road” to get a pathway. It is also infuriating to find drivers horning at school bus drivers persistently causing a deafening alarm on the pupils. This is a daily experience in Lagos. Lagos is notorious for very insensitive drivers, noting and seeing vulnerable pupils in a school bus and still deny the driver to take right of way. Incidences and occurrences of this nature traumatise our young persons when they witness all the efforts their drivers go through to safely get them to school and back home.
As an experienced driver, it would have been normal to aid and ease travel time of school pupils in their branded school bus get to their school on time rather than deny the school bus right of way, thereby causing pupils to be harassed by different road rages exhibited against their drivers.
On the path of the school, it is not enough to brand the buses “Educational.” They must as a matter of urgency deploy signs and symbols that will alert Lagosians of the occupants in the vehicles. For instance School owners need to avail on the buses legible warning signs such as: STOP, CAUTION, CHILD ON BOARD, WARNING, etc, boldly as signs or the conductors can hold a flag to raise awareness that the occupants of the vehicles are persons of tender age. This has become necessary as the Lagos drivers today drive absentmindedly with their problems in their eyes, impairing their sense of reasoning and invading their cognitive behaviour to further see other vehicles around them.
I want to suggest that school buses today in Nigeria should be given automatic right to use sirens and emergency services anytime children are in the school buses just like ambulances and politicians are given preferences to meet up with schedules. School buses should be given such preferences because of the occupants of the vehicle are our dear leaders of tomorrow, our innocent children. They deserve this priority and this should be made known to all and sundry that pre-school, primary and secondary school buses require that preferencial treatment given to BRT buses and other priority services in Lagos and in Nigeria as a whole.
I want to beckon on the government to look into this aspect of safety and security as well as time efficiency for our vulnerable children and their school buses as they commute daily.
. Lilian Mabeek is a writing enthusiast who enjoys to captivate her readers with everyday happenings or experiences as it best soothes each person, having similar and peculiar reactions and interaction with daily life occurrences. As an inspirational writer focused on indelible prints of positivity of the minds on anyone reading a line or pages as it were, she prefers not to delve into negative stories or publications, but rather intentionally purges the minds of readers to awaken to a beautiful world where endless joy is found and possibilities exist. For Mabeek, her purpose is to bring peaceful memories, coexistence and friendliness to the mind of anyone who reads her daily digest. You can describe her choice of expression as a daily English usage for better comprehension among readers of all educational qualifications. Mabeek’s passion for writing was borne out of ensuring that anyone reading any publication will find pleasure, humour, laughter and an appreciation of whatever is being written about, but ultimately avert stress, anxiety, depression and any form of life challenge. As a social commentator and public relations consultant, for her the pen is a tool to the heart of the society, bringing public enlightenment that it pays to focus on positive narratives and creating a greater image for Nigeria.
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