Brief Story about Keep Roads Safe Demand (KRSD)
The birth of the Keep Roads Safe Demand (KRSD)/Quick Response Unit (QRU) on 30th September, 2011 came after the death of Kwapda’as Rangna’an Samson Dongban. He was killed by a yet to be identified motorist along Tudun Wada Road in Jos, Plateau State on the 23rd September, 2011. The excruciating pain we feel is wondering what our loved ones last moment were. Obviously, there was someone there who did not care; he/she stole the diseased cellular phone. If only his phone had been used to dial the last number he called or the last number which called him, he would have died in the loving embrace of his younger brother who was only a few meters away.
Kwapda’as Rangna’an Samson Dongban (KRSD) was a Law student graduate. He was very humble and polite but was never intimidated by anyone’s status. He loved deeply and totally; he admired and encouraged all around him but envied none. He is found of saying ‘’There is time for everything’’. He even said the same to his mother on the 21st September 2011, two days before his demised.
Yes, the flesh is gone but his spirit lives on; that care and selfless dedication to better the lot of others shall live on. He was knocked down and left dead on the road. His love and sympathy for others would never have allowed him to do such a thing; he would never have walked away from a person in need of help.
Some people attempted to take him to the hospital after the accident but died on the way. He was returned and dumped at the scene of the incident for fear of the ordeal they would get into at the hospital with the police.
As a local authorities: Police, Nurse and Doctor on duty, your first and essential duty is to save a life. Certify the dead person and preserve it for the grieving family to at least see the corpse in a presentable state.
His departure left each and everyone of us with these fundamental but conscious questions: How will I respond to a road mishap? What can I do to make roads safe for all road users? What will I do to the victim of an accident? Will I stop for moment or rush off looking the other way? Will I be gracious enough to dignify a dying person by extending to them a caring hand to clasp onto before giving up the ghost in a fatal accident? Or would I bother to listen to the last words uttered by this dying person so I can pass same to the relatives?
We are all involved. We can each take action. Anyone can be the next victim. What will you do? What positive action will you take to make a difference?
Founded on 30th September 2011, it aims at contributing significantly to the campaign for road safety in Nigeria. With the slogan: Keep Roads Safe Demand (KRSD), the trust fund hopes to engage in activities that will sensitise people and persuade them to adopt a humane attitude of responsibility and sensibility to the needs of victims of road mishap.
We intend to organize essay and quiz competitions among high school children annually. Periodically, we will hold talk shows as a way of working on the consciences of road users especially on the compelling need to help road accident sufferers.
Please take a personal responsibility
We appeal to individuals, cooperate organizations etc to make an undertaking to make a Keep Roads Safe Demand (KRSD) of yourself – that means taking a personal responsibility to keep our roads safe for users and helping victims should the unexpected happen. Encourage your children, spouse, relations, friends, neighbours to make a pledge of a personal responsibility.
If you sign up today, you are already making a difference – you are making a commitment to be more alert and responsive on the road. You are making an undertaking to stop driving and talking on your cellular phone. You are promising to stop and give a helping hand when you come across a road accident scene. You can spend a few minutes to make an emergency call. You can buy and donate phone lines and airtime to KRSD Unit.
You can establish a KRSD Unit in your immediate community. You can make a demand of yourself to make a difference. We are not saying we can stop deaths on our roads. We are saying if the unfortunate occurs, let us give the victim some comfort in his/her last moments. Let them leave this world feeling loved and cared for in their last moments. You will have the satisfaction of having rendered a most valuable service to a fellow human being in need.
By this, you will give comfort to the relatives when they know that a relation’s last moments were warm, they were cared for. It could happen to anyone, any day. Please, let us each take personal responsibility to make success in this road safety demand! If we do this conscientiously, it will help the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) tremendously in the march toward road safety in our society. By the end of the road safety decade, we would have drastically reduced the level of insecurity on our roads.
Please sign up with KRSD QRU today. God bless and protect us all! Thank you!