Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State yesterday urged people of the state to refrain from activities capable of causing what he called “needless noise.”
The governor said if only residents would cooperate with government in reducing noise as they did in the containment of Ebola virus, the state would be a better place.
Speaking at the Lagos Drivers’ Appreciation Day, a programme organised by the state’s Ministry of Transport to sensitize drivers on the “horn-free day,” Fashola said if Lagos could contain Ebola virus, despite its fatality, noise pollution could also be contained.
He said: “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, religious leaders, Obas, chiefs, local government and the civil societies and confronted a threat that has never occurred in an urban centre. Lagos is the first test case. I remember what they were telling me from the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) that there was no precedence for what was happening in Lagos, because that was the first time in 40 years that Ebola would be breaking out in an urban centre. Almost, all other experiences were in the rural areas. But again, we learnt, we worked together and we overcame it. If we could do that, why can’t we overcome noise pollution which is self-inflicted.”
He urged Lagos motorists, particularly commercial bus drivers who are known for unnecessarily hooting vehicle horns to desist.
“Let’s do it; the horn-free day and noiseless society starts with you and I,” he said.
At the event, Fashola honoured 25 drivers who distinguished themselves by obeying traffic regulations