Natasha: Joshua’s Tragedy Renews Call for National Highway Safety Emergency

• As FRSC zonal commanding officer calls for cautious driving

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Bennett Oghifo in Lagos

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan representing Kogi Central has called for urgent and far-reaching reforms to Nigeria’s highway safety architecture following a fatal road accident that claimed the lives of two close associates of two-time former world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Zonal Commanding Officer (ZCO) of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in charge of Lagos and Ogun states, Assistant Corps Marshal Ann Oladayo, has called on motorists to exercise utmost caution in driving on the highways during the yuletide period.

She made this call while on a follow up visit to the site of the Road Traffic Crash (RTC), involving world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, that claimed the lives of two of his friends.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan in a condolence message issued on Tuesday expressed deep sympathy with Joshua, whose friends reportedly travelled with him to Nigeria before the tragic incident.

She described the loss as devastating and avoidable, lamenting the recurring carnage on Nigerian roads.

Akpoti-Uduaghan said the incident once again exposed the dire state of highway safety in the country, stressing that preventable road crashes had continued to claim thousands of lives yearly due to weak enforcement, poor infrastructure and slow emergency response.

She said, “My heart goes out to Anthony Joshua at this painful moment. Losing two close friends in such tragic circumstances is heartbreaking.

“I pray for strength and comfort for him and for the families of the departed.”

Beyond condolences, the senator warned that Nigerian highways had become “corridors of sorrow,” insisting the country could no longer afford to treat road safety as a routine issue.

She said, “This tragedy is unacceptable. Road safety is not optional; it is a matter of life and death. Until we take decisive action, families will continue to receive devastating phone calls.”

She urged the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to significantly step up enforcement of existing traffic regulations, arguing that poor compliance and lax monitoring had emboldened reckless driving across the country.

Akpoti-Uduaghhan said, “Rules without enforcement are meaningless. The FRSC must be empowered and compelled to enforce safety regulations across all highways, without fear or favour.”

The lawmaker also called on the federal government to prioritise the construction of properly equipped vehicle rest-in stations and lay-bys along major highways to address fatigue-related crashes, particularly among long-distance and commercial drivers.

She said, “No driver should be forced to drive endlessly without a safe place to rest. Purpose-built rest stations must become a deliberate part of our highway planning.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan further advocated the establishment of a dedicated Highway Emergency Rescue System, comprising ambulances, trauma care units and rapid-response personnel strategically positioned along major routes.

She said, “Many lives are lost not only because accidents occur, but because help arrives too late. Nigeria urgently needs a functional highway emergency rescue system that can respond within minutes, not hours.”

She urged policymakers to treat road safety as a national emergency, warning that failure to act decisively would only perpetuate avoidable deaths on the nation’s roads.

She said, “This tragedy should not be another headline that fades away. It must mark a turning point for serious and sustained highway safety reforms.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan reaffirmed her commitment to pushing legislative and policy measures that prioritise road safety, while again extending her condolences to Anthony Joshua and the bereaved families.

The fatal crash occurred on Monday along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, within the Makun axis of Ogun State. The boxer is currently recuperating in a hospital in Lagos.

The ZCO who supervised other FRSC officers in ensuring that the scene of the accident was cleared as fast as possible, called on motorists to “always drive within speed limits”.

According to her, “as we drive on the highways, safety should be our watch word all the time. We extend our condolences to those that lost their lives and wish AJ speedy recover “.

Meanwhile, a commentator, simply identified as Yemi Dada on X, has commended the FRSC for prompt response time after the incident.

He said: “I was one vehicle behind the wreck of AJ’s car, and I can confirm that the @FRSCNigeria officers were at the scene in about 5 minutes. They arrived on foot running because a buildup of cars had blocked access to the wreckage.

“They extracted AJ from the car and removed the bodies from the road and cleared traffic in about 15 minutes.  They did very well.”