The news of the fatal crash involving boxing icon Anthony Joshua on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway on December 29, 2025, plunged the nation into mourning and reflection.
While public attention understandably fixed on the survival of a global superstar, the tragedy claimed the lives of two of his close associates, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele. As an epidemiologist, I believe it is imperative that we look beyond the celebrity headlines to interrogate the structural failures that make such events not only foreseeable—but preventable.
In public health, we rely on Haddon’s Matrix to analyse road traffic injuries. This framework reminds us that a road traffic crash is never a random “accident.” Rather, it is the predictable outcome of interacting failures involving the human actor, the vehicle, and the environment—before, during, and after the event.
The Pre-Event: The Illusion of Control
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) cited excessive speed and wrongful overtaking as immediate triggers. Within the “host” (human) domain, this reflects a familiar pattern on Nigeria’s major highways. Yet focusing solely on driver behaviour obscures the wider “social environment.” Festive travel periods generate systemic pressure for speed—tight schedules, poor alternatives, and normalised risk-taking—which collectively encourage aggressive driving.
In the “agent” (vehicle) domain, questions remain about mechanical integrity, including the possibility of a tire failure, as rumoured in this case. Well-maintained tires and braking systems are the first line of defence against loss of control. When they fail, the margin for survival collapses rapidly.
The Event: The Geometry of Survival
Once a crash occurs, outcomes are dictated by physics. Near the Sagamu Interchange, the Lexus SUV collided with a stationary heavy-duty truck on the highway shoulder. Here, the “physical environment” became the principal killer. A broken-down articulated truck—especially one lacking underrun protection—functions as a lethal roadside obstacle, effectively transforming a high-speed corridor into a narrow channel of death.
Survival in such impacts is often determined by centimetres. Joshua, seated in the rear, sustained minor injuries, while those positioned on the side of impact suffered fatal trauma. This stark disparity underscores a crucial truth: even modern vehicle safety systems are routinely overwhelmed when roads are littered with immovable, unprotected hazards.
The Post-Event: The Infrastructure of Recovery
The critical post-crash phase often decides whether one lives or dies. Emergency medical care makes a difference, not just between life and death, but also between full recovery and a life of disability. For minutes, Joshua sat in the wreckage stunned and in pain. A chaotic crowd was soon joined by the FRSC men. Joshua was pulled out of the mangled car without much attention to the principles of advanced trauma life support to prevent spinal cord injury.
This phase also decides who lives and who dies. While FRSC reportedly arrived within an hour, the aftermath soon exposed a profound inequity. Joshua received immediate, high-level attention—rapid evacuation, access to advanced facilities, and direct concern from state and federal authorities.
For the average Nigerian, the post-event phase is frequently a vacuum. Trauma care systems are fragmented, ambulance coverage is sparse, and the “Golden Hour”—the critical window in which lives can be saved—is routinely squandered by delays, improvisation, and inadequate prehospital care.
The Path Forward
If Nigeria is serious about moving toward a Vision Zero future—where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads—we must abandon the reflexive habit of blaming “driver error” alone. What is required is a coherent, system-level response:
Environmental Reform: In addition to ensuring pothole-free roads, stationary vehicles must be aggressively cleared from highway shoulders. A federal expressway is not a parking lot. This is a road-safety and national-security imperative. Some state governors have tried to mitigate this hazard without much success.
Vehicle Integrity: Enforcement of tire quality, braking standards, and mechanical fitness must be non-negotiable, particularly for long-distance and high-speed travel.
Responsive and Equitable Trauma Care: Nigeria needs a rapid and equitable trauma response system that gives a labourer on a motorcycle the same chance during the Golden Hour as a world-class athlete in an armoured SUV. In 2025, the country significantly expanded its emergency medical response through federal and state-level—the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), which now covers 30 states. We need to strengthen this and make it impactful.
The Anthony Joshua crash was tragic—but it was not anomalous. It was a symptom of a system that fails its citizens daily. We owe it to those who died to stop calling these events “accidents” and start confronting them for what they truly are: predictable, preventable public-health failures.
