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| Image source: plusnaija.com |
So
a wonderful friend, Enitan Odetayo thought to share her thoughts on a Lagos
without horns. Enjoy!
The
first time I heard of the horn-free day initiative, I had some doubts in mind;
will it work, will the motorists cooperate (since they are the major
stakeholder in this situation), will it last the test of time? All these
questions kept running through my mind but I reflected that anything is just
possible after all Oshodi is a testimony of this.
The
D-Day, 15th of October, arrived with so much buzz and anticipation for a truly
Horn-Free Lagos. I set out for work and got into the car, it took us (driver
and I) sometime to realize that there was less horn honking. Although by this
time, the driver had already horned once. But interestingly, it felt a bit
different that morning because I had to get used to less horn. Not to say that
people did not horn but it was minimal in the route I took the entire day and I
had already started nursing the feeling that this initiative is here for good
and to stay.
To
my surprise, the days after did not get any better because it felt like nothing
happened on the 15th and people had gone back to their usual driving
lifestyle. I asked myself if the day had any impact at all on drivers. I spoke
to my friends that drive in Lagos and their response was that survival on Lagos
road requires the use of horn hence, there can hardly be a completely horn-free
Lagos but they drive in other countries in a proper way and obey the traffic
laws.
My
conclusion is this, the initiative can work but the message needs to be
reinforced with educating drivers to horn less and drive better. So in response
to my question, it’s actually possible to have a horn-free Lagos but it
requires much work because change is constant but gradual. This initiative
requires behavioral change by becoming sub-conscious in the minds of drivers.
From government to citizens like you and I, there must be 100% involvement to
make Lagos a better place.
Let’s
play our part in this success story! I’d love to know your views.
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