Mercy shifted uneasily in the bus she was taking to Lekki. She dabbed the sweat on her face for the umpteenth time, careful not to ruin her makeup. For 45 minutes, they have been stuck in the same area of the Ikorodu road.
She takes a glance at her phone’s home screen, so sure now that she wouldn’t make it in time to work that morning. A danfo had broken down on the road earlier that morning; an hour later, the vehicle had not been taken off the road.
Like Mercy, many Nigerians who live in urban areas have to battle with traffic gridlocks before getting to their destinations. It is a common phenomenon in the commercial capital of Nigeria, Lagos State, that you have to factor in the time that will be spent in traffic when planning to move from one place to another in the city, especially if it is rush hour.
Vehicular breakdowns are a common sight on Nigerian roads. In 2018, the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency said vehicular breakdowns have increased by 200%, and about 70% of traffic gridlocks are caused by vehicular breakdowns. Bad roads, poor maintenance, and disobedience of traffic
rules, amongst other reasons, are attributed to the causes of vehicular breakdowns in Nigeria. In urban cities like Abuja and Lagos, people are faced with much more traffic problems than in rural areas.
A swift intervention in vehicular breakdowns will greatly cut down the amount of time people spend in traffic and cause a better road user experience. According to a report, Lagosians spend more than half of
their lives in traffic. Traffic and ease of movement impact the quality of life of the people who live in the city.
AA Rescue to the Rescue In Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt, AA Rescue is working to relieve the stress of road users
seven days per week and 24 hours per day. Founded in 2003, the organization offers a variety of services like emergency automobile rescue assistance, learner driver training (driving school), intercity vehicular
haulage, driver recruitment for companies, and so on.
AA Rescue is a multi-service organization that provides vehicular emergency rescue and repair assistance.
The company aims to give comfort, remove distress, and protect the Nigerian populace by providing prompt emergency roadside assistance to stranded motorists in cases of vehicular breakdowns and accidents.
In Nigeria, the company is a pioneer in the fields of modern driving instruction and car rescue. It has developed into a significant organization, providing a range of services that have an impact on the
standard of living of the Nigerian polity, such as but not limited to: emergency auto rescue assistance, learner driver training (driving school), capacity building for drivers and executives (defensive and
advanced driving training), general logistics, intercity vehicle haulage, driver recruitment for companies/individuals (driver outsourcing), driver licensing, corporate telecommunications, and general
logistics.
Sustainability is a problem in government-supported emergency response in Nigeria, in addition to the lack of competent staff and appropriate ambulance equipment. When the government was forced to stop
investing money into a system that produced no income, the majority of government ambulance services swiftly came to an end.
In Nigeria, emergency response is still crude and lacks sufficient funding. However, there has been a substantial effort from AA Rescue to improve the general narrative of emergency response in the country.