Boy, 7 Directs Traffic At Junction

The attention of hundreds of
Lagosians was drawn to an unusual
scene yesterday in Agege area of
Lagos State, South West Nigeria
when a seven-year old boy in the
uniform of the Lagos State Traffic
Management Authority, LASTMA was
seen directing traffic on a very
busy road.

The baby LASTMA official being
supervised by some LASTMA
officials was seen sweating it out
as he was able to direct hundreds
of vehicles, while standing at a T-
junction very close to Pen Cinema.
The boy, Victory Taiwo, a primary
three pupil of Dairy Farm Primary
School even apprehended a vehicle
which appeared to have violated
traffic rules and he got N500 tip
from a woman who appreciated
what he did.
The boy was heard warning the
traffic offender not to violate
traffic rules again and then left
him off the hook.

From then on, motorists who were
so impressed by what the boy was
doing gave him money and
willingly obeyed his instructions
when he told them to move or stop.
Some passers-by used their mobile
phone cameras to take good shots of
the boy who did not seem to be
bothered about the attention he was
getting.

When asked how he felt doing the
job meant for adult, Taiwo said he
was very happy about it and said he
would like to be a LASTMA officer
when he grew up.
A senior LASTMA officer, Mr.
Beecroft Shola, said the school
released the boy to him to train
him on how to direct traffic as part
of the school safety advocacy
programme of the Lagos State
Government.

According to him, the programme
was an enlightenment one for
children, who would in turn go out
to enlighten okada riders on the
need for them not to carry school
children, pregnant women, women
with babies strapped to their back,
among others.

As part of the Lagos State School
Advocacy Safety Programme, the
Special Adviser to the Governor on
Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa
had said that the programme is to
inculcate in the children knowledge
of traffic rules and laws in the
state.
He stated that a time would come
when the state government would
use children to mount the roads to
direct traffic in order to sensitise
the adult on the need to be road
conscious.

Also, the state government in a bid
to ensure safety in this ‘Ember’
month had been using school
children to launch road safety
campaign across the five divisions
of Lagos State. During the
campaign the children marched and
distributed flyers to motorists.