Vice President Kashim Shettima, Wednesday, declared open the Federal Road Society Corps (FRSC) Eighth Annual Lecture series.
The last annual lectures were held in 2017. The decision to resuscitate the lecture series in 2025 was hinged on the need to utilise global partnership as leverage to domesticate global best practices as remedial action on the road safety issues in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole.
In a related development, Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State expressed satisfaction with the activities of FRSC, Ekiti State Command, assuring the agency of a more robust collaboration in its drive to ensure effective traffic management and significant reduction in road accidents. Oyebanji, who stated this while receiving in audience the new Sector Commander, Ekiti Sector Command, Corps Commander Sanya Adeoye, at the Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday stressed the need for FRSC to continue to improve on its current pace of traffic management by organising regular interface with commercial transporters in an effort to further reduce road accidents to barest minimum.
The vice president tasked stakeholders in the sector to address the challenges of emerging trend in road transportation using global partnership as leverage to adopt global best practices on road safety issues.
Shettima, in his keynote address at the occasion in Abuja, stated that the theme of FRSC’s Eighth Annual Lecture Series, “Road Safety Management and Emerging Transportation Trends: Global partnership and Optimal Performance,” was timely.
The vice president stated, “The purpose of the Annual Lecture series underscores the need for the Corps to review performance, identify needs as well as create awareness on the challenges of road safety management in Nigeria.
“Consistent with these objectives, I believe that the lecture series will open up new vistas for driver education, policy makers and the general public to imbibe best practices and innovations on road safety.”
Shettima said, “It is on record that previous lecture series yielded highly beneficial insights leading to improvements on safer driving habits and attitudes through evidence-based guidance and sustained enlightenment campaigns that also translated into improvements in the capacity of road safety transport operators as well as responders to road crashes.
“I wish to commend the FRSC for its numerous laudable achievements which placed Nigeria on focus as a lead country in road safety management in the West Africa sub-region as well as in Africa in general.
“For instance, through the FRSC efforts, Nigeria hosts the Permanent Secretariat of the West Africa Road Safety Organization (WARSO) and currently, Nigeria was also elected to host the Permanent Secretariat of the Africa Lead Agencies on Road Safety (ARSLA); amongst several other laurels and awards as best performing agency in road traffic management.”
He said those were remarkable achievements deserving of government’s commendation.
Shettima stated, “I wish to assure you that government recognizes road crash as a major public health challenges – with socio-economic consequences. Accordingly, government is committed to saving lives and promoting sustainable road transport system.
“We are aware that the FRSC Amendment Bill has passed 3rd Reading at the House of Reps and is awaiting concurrence at the Senate.
“I wish to assure you that government will continue to promote compliance to global best practices in road safety by supporting innovations that strengthen the Corps to ensure compliance to road safety laws and regulations.
“At this juncture, I wish to commend the organisers of the Annual Lecture Series for a well-thought-out platform to advance road safety.
“I also urge you all to deliberate on practicable and applicable measures that will sanitise our highways with a view to achieving the target of 50 per cent reduction of crash fatalities/injuries by the year 2030.”
Similarly, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, in his brief remarks, stated that such a forum was critical to efforts to address identified gaps in road traffic safety management and administration in the country.
Akume stressed that over the years, the effort of the FRSC had translated into improved awareness on proper road use, vehicle maintenance as well as setting standards for fleet operators in the country.
He said, “As we are all aware, over 90 per cent of transportation is through the road transport hence the need for safety precautions on the road cannot be overemphasised.
“I feel greatly honoured to witness the 8th FRSC Annual Lecture Series and to also address this select group of critical road safety stakeholders.
“I wish to acknowledge the resourcefulness of the FRSC for initiating a yearly platform in the manner of a lecture series to create awareness on road safety.”
Akume hinted that the theme became relevant against contemporary developments in global road transport system, which in itself required commensurate innovations at ensuring safety in the road transport sub-sector.
The SGF stated, “While some advanced economies have taken stringent measures to sanitize their highways, the FRSC Annual Lecture Series provides yet another opportunity to review the performance of the Corps with the aim of ensuring improvements to meet up with the desired global best standards.
“The timing of the Lecture Series is also crucial because it is coming up at the beginning of Ember Months: a period that is associated with a surge in the volume of vehicular traffic as well as in the statistics of road crash fatalities and injuries.
“As we deliberate on the way forward, I enjoin the corps to put up practicable measures towards achieving zero-death in road crashes during the Yuletide and the New Year celebrations.”
Corps Marshal, FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, stated, “Your presence in this occasion is a testament to your commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and properties in the road transport sub-sector. It is indeed an honour to have such great personalities gracing this occasion.
“The purpose of the Lecture Series is to share experiences and provide fresh perspectives on road safety management in Nigeria. The maiden edition of the Annual Lectures was organised in the year 2009 with the theme: Sustainable Development and Road Safety.
“I wish to reassure us all that the resolutions emerging from today’s consultations will catalyse into formidable road safety policies that will lead to positive behavioural changes in our driving culture. Thus far, we can effectively bequeath an enduring road safety legacy for our nation.”
Former Corps Marshall, Chief Osita Chidoka, who anchored a panel session, said the current challenge of road safety was channelling the global framework into Nigerian reality, especially in a country where motor-cycle account for almost half of all road fatalities.
According to him, the discussants brought voices from security, justice, technology, law and academia and each had a critical role to play in the system to make Nigerian roads safer, smarter, and secure.
Other discussants drawn from the office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Court of Appeal, Nigerian Bar Association, University of Abuja, and Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, committed to participating in a shared responsibility for effective road safety management in Nigeria.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State maintained the state government, under his leadership, will continue to support the activities of FRSC in the state, adding that he will find a way around their requests, which he believed will further strengthen their efforts to achieve better results.
The governor stated, “First, let me commend your level of professionalism. I have listened to your challenges and with respect to vehicles and ambulance service. We are partners in progress, whatever support we can give to your agency, we will do that. You are very serious-minded agency and you know what you are doing; we will continue to support you.”
While stating that most of the road accidents were avoidable, the governor said it was imperative to ensure adequate regular training on road usage and safety measures.
Oyebanji also stressed the urgent need to perform a documentation of all motorcycle operators in the state in order to reduce the incidence of crime.
He stated, “I am happy the accident rate in the state is going down and traffic has been free in town; I also like the idea of advising us on signage. One area that we will still need you to step up is regular interface with drivers, commercial motorcyclists, tricycle operators.
“We need to have a structure that will ensure that we meet with them regularly to train them on safety measures. You see, most of the accidents we have in the state are avoidable, especially the motorcycle operators.”
Earlier, Sector Commander, Corps Commander Sanya Adeoye, commended Oyebanji for his aggressive investment in road infrastructure cutting across the three senatorial districts of the state, which according to him, has resulted in significant reduction in road accidents in the state.
Kasim Sumaina, Deji Elumoye and Gbenga Sodeinde
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