A Day without Horn: The Making of a Noiseless Lagos

October 17, 2014 – For residents of Lagos State October 15, 2014 was quite spectacular, it did not pass like any other day especially for drivers.

From private to commercial cab drivers, the mission was nothing but driving without succumbing to temptation to blare the horn especially in a state like Lagos where every driver is a law onto itself.

And so from Ojodu in Ikeja, to Agege, Ojota, Oshodi and Victoria Island, even in faraway Lekki, the story was the same with just a little bit of alteration. Even the air waves were abuzz as air personalities tackled the subject in as many ways as possible.
You could feel the enthusiasm of government in and around Alausa, seat of the Lagos State Government as banners of various sizes were strategically positioned in every available space.

T-shirts bearing A Day without Horn In Lagos, flyers and stickers were made available as part of effort to etch the import of the day in the minds of Nigerians, especially those driving through the secretariat.

For Miriam Masha, Special Adviser to the Governor on Transport Education, motorists in the state were expected to drive either without making use of the horn or with moderate use of the horn for the whole day, she said on radio, adding that there would be no sanctions though about 1000 officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were mobilized for the exercise.

The LASTMA officials were however not on the road to contravene any violator but to distribute special flyers to educate Nigerians on the importance of the day and remind motorists who are tempted to blare the horn to keep the environment noise-free at least for health reasons.

Experts have warned that the human ear can only take in a certain range of sound without getting damaged.

“Man made noises such as jackhammers, horns, machinery, airplanes and even vehicles can be too loud for our hearing range. Constant exposure to loud levels of noise can easily result in the damage of our ear drums and loss of hearing. It also reduces our sensitivity to sounds that our ears pick up unconsciously to regulate our body’s rhythm.

“Studies show that the occurrence of aggressive behavior, disturbance of sleep, constant stress, fatigue and hypertension can be linked to excessive noise levels. These in turn can cause more severe and chronic health issues later in life”, says the website www.conserve-energy-future.com.

A Day without Horn is therefore in tandem with the aspiration of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola for a noiseless and healthy society.

Speaking at a programme in Lagos, Fashola said it is possible to live in noiseless society if residents of the state decide to fight noise pollution the way they fought Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
According to him, if residents of the state could contain Ebola irrespective of its deadly nature, noise pollution could also be a thing of the past.

“The whole world feared that we would not be able to survive Ebola but we stood up as a family from the primary health care workers, the religious leaders, the Obas, the chiefs, the local government, the civil societies. We all decided to confront a threat that has never happened in an urban centre before. But again, we learned, we worked together and we overcame that. If we can do that, can we not then overcome noise pollution which is self-inflicted? Let’s go and do it, the horn-free day and noiseless society starts with you and I”, the governor said.

For the governor, things could be better if citizens could amend their ways of living.

“What you see is the way we now chose to live. It is because we choose to live in a very noisy environment which could be changed for better. We also tend to be noisy ourselves. So, we speak at the top of our voices, we play music at a very high volume. We do so many things at a very high level. You will be amazed with the number of text messages from citizens on daily basis. So when we come out with this kind of policies, it is not necessarily that we don’t have something better to do but we are also responding to citizens, tax payers who write, send text messages, petition on a daily basis because somebody is preventing them from sleeping either from the noise the person is making or other uncharitable activities that they are carrying out without regards for the well-being of their neighbours,” he said.

For him, the harmful noise level is 70 decibel and above but that there is need to come down significantly since the global standard for measuring noise is 90 decibel which he said is rather too high and harmful to human health.

“It is for our own good, it is for our own health, it is for our own life. It is not because Governor Fashola said so. It is simply because it is good for us. Doctors have told us it is for our own ultimate good. What we see in a way that we now choose to live is that because we live in a very noisy environment, which we can really diminish, we tend to be very noisy ourselves. We speak at the top of our voices, we play music at very high decibels and we do very many things at very high levels”, he observed.

Ironically, government is using this soft approach in the presence of edict nos. 9 of 1996 that established the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency(LASEPA), under which several churches and mosques have been sealed-up for issues related to noise pollution.

“Occasionally, when you hear a siren you know something has gone wrong in that system; you know that either an ambulance is on its way to an emergency or firemen are on their way to a fire or policemen are tracking and chasing criminals; and I said why should we be different as Nigerians?”, he said, adding that government is pleased that the ministry of transportation is rising up to implement ‘A Day Without Horn’.

For cab drivers, it was a day characterized with fun in an attempt to move away from the usual practice. Mr. Amofokhai Audu who drives a personal car relates his experience while observing the day.

“I was very conscious and determined to observe the horn-free day. I drove through the Abule Egba intersection, through the Lagos Abattoir to Agege without blaring the horn. I was also able to caution myself driving through Acme Road without hooting”, he said adding that things changed just a few minutes away at Agidingbi.

“On getting to Agidingbi Road, at a traffic point, I inadvertently pressed the horn before realizing that I had faltered. I felt so bad and I know this has spoilt my day already. When the traffic light turned green, the vehicle in my front did not move on time, I never knew when I pressed the horn and I immediately regretted it,” he moaned.

“I tried as much as possible to caution myself driving through Ogunnisi road In Ojodu where there was 95 percent compliant”, Samson Akpofure told our reporter.

“But things changed when attempt by members of the Nigeria Police Force to contravene a recalcitrant driver engendered stalemate in traffic. The trailer driver directly in front of me who could not bear the heat opted to use his horn to intimidate and bulldoze his out of the traffic jam. That was the first time a driver used the horn”, he noted.

On Ikorodu Road, down to Third Mainland Bridge and some aspect of Marina, there was full compliant. The traffic jam along Idi Oro Market was endured by motorists who stayed for almost an hour without resulting to using the horn to disturb the enduring peace.

Taiwo Olapade, a journalist drove through the Ikorodu Road where he observed some quietness as many motorists did as much as possible not to use the horn. But he succumbed to temptation when he pressed the horn twice. But he acknowledged that the level of compliance was high in Aguda, Surulere.

But Mr. Emmanuel Odeyemi, who lives at Mafoluku area of Oshodi said he succeeded in driving through the Lagos traffic on that day without using the horn.

He observed that the serenity of the environment was palpable even as he drove through the densely populated Oshodi to Ikeja. He said many motorists in Oshodi, Airport Road and other places observed the horn-free day since horns were rarely used.

“Commercial bus drivers have high level of compliance more than private cab drivers. The noise level has reduced. I could see banners made by the NURTW to sensitise their people not to use the horn.

“This is good for Lagos State and if this can be done quarterly, things will be different. I have not used the horn today and I intend to continue it throughout the day,” he vowed, hoping that Nigerians will carry on with the lessons acquired while marking the horn free day.

Contributed by Emmanuel Ukudolo