Dike Onwuamaeze

The Pernod Ricard Nigeria (PRN), has partnered with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to hold a three-day road safety awareness campaign with the theme “Safe Roads: Don’t Drink and Drive.”

Speaking during the awareness campaign, the Managing Director of PRN, Mr. Michael Ehindero, said that his company sponsored the campaign because it considered road safety as a shared responsibility that called for shared commitment.

Ehindero said that the company believed that partnering with key stakeholders in road safety, including the media, would get its message on road safety across to motorists and help to reduce road accidents. 

He identified driving under the influence of alcohol, also known as drink-driving, as a major risk factor that causes of road accidents.

“It is against this background that we, Pernod Ricard Nigeria, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, a worldwide producer of wines and spirits, have decided to launch this initiative” that is aimed at helping drivers and other road users to understand the negative effects of drink-driving, and why they should promote responsible and positive choices during this festive season.”  

Ehindero opined that eliminating driving under the influence would reduce road crashes.  “Every life lost is someone’s parent, child, or friend. The message was clear “If you Drink, Don’t Drive,” he said.

Speaking during the awareness campaign, the Lagos State Sector Commander, FRSC, Mr. Kehinde G. Hamzat, said that it is important to educate motorists on the need to maintain their vehicles and avoid drinking alcohol and driving.

Hamzat said:  “There is need to let members of the public know that they should not drink alcohol and drive so that they will never remember the day their breadwinner is no more as a result of careless driving under the influence of alcohol.”

Speaking in the same vein, the State Commander of Lagos State Command of NDLEA, Mr. Abubakar Liman Wali, who was represented by Assistant Commander of NDLEA, Ms. Stella Amechi, said that the event is in line with the agencies major responsibility of educating members of the public to abstain from drug abuse, which includes alcohol.

Wali described drug as any substance whose consumption could change a person’s mood.

He said: “Let us work hand in hand to ensure that all efforts are directed against drug abuse.”

The Lagos State Secretary of NURTW, Mr. Usman O. Teslim, said that no professional driver should drink at all when he is on duty because it takes over the control of his brain and slows his decision making while on steering.

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