FRSC, FG to tackle road crashes, carnage

FRSC Boss, Boboye Oyeyemi

FRSC Boss, Boboye Oyeyemi

FRSC Boss, Boboye Oyeyemi

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday said the Federal government will continue to provide support to the FRSC to enable it to reduce road crashes in the country.

He said this at the Annual Lecture Series of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Abuja with the theme “Achieving the Goals of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety in Africa.

Osinbajo was represented by Mr Suleiman Hassan, the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing.

He said that the vision behind the establishment of FRSC as the country’s lead agency for road safety administration and safety management, 29 years ago, had largely been realised.

He, however, noted that the menace of road accidents still remained a major source of concern to the country and other developing economies of the world.

Osinbajo said the declaration of 2011 to 2020 as the decade for road safety was the most audacious demonstration of the UN to tackle challenges of road crashes.

He said that Nigeria as an active UN member remained committed to reducing road crashes by 50 per cent in line with the UN declaration.

He said that besides having the lead agency, the country was the first to activate the UN decade campaign.

Osinbajo said the FRSC lecture series were part of the enlightenment programmes to sensitise the populace to the issues of road safety amongst Nigerians.

Osinbajo expressed happiness with the international participation in the lecture series and hoped that the 2017 edition would be utilized to share information on road safety and the way forward on how to achieve the UN decade of action.

He declared that part of the country’s commitment to road safety campaign involved the continuous legislative reviews of FRSC establishment laws.

He said the aim was to enhance the capacity for enforcement and boosting competences of personnel through capacity development and massive logistics support.

The Vice President recalled that he inaugurated the Road Safety Advisory Council recently and assured the international community that Nigeria was on course of the UN campaign to address challenges of road safety.

According to him such commitment will go beyond the country and the continent to other parts of the world through adoption of road safety practices.

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He noted that as the largest black nation with highest number of vehicular traffic the country was conscious of the fact that it was also challenged by the road traffic crashes like the developed nations.

He stated that the country was ready to address such challenges conscious of the fact that 1.29 million people fall victims of road traffic crashes yearly in the world.

He said that ironically, developing countries such as Nigeria accounted for disproportionate share of the number of victims.

The Vice President stated that the federal government would leave nothing undone in its readiness to taking appropriate measures that could address the menace.

He said that was why the government was adopting policies capable of making the country as a leading example of what a road friendly nation should be in Africa and the world.

He said that government had in the past two years increased the capital and budgetary allocation to FRSC to make it to function more efficiently.

Osinbajo hailed FRSC for achieving international recognitions as well as helping to establish similar platforms in other African nations.

He reaffirmed that the federal government would continue to support the commission to excel as well as offer assistance to other nations.

The Vice President called on all tiers of government, law enforcement agencies, transport unions, organized private sector, NGOs, and civil society groups to join forces with FRSC in its task of making roads safer for all.

Osinbajo commended the World Bank for its collaborative initiatives in the country especially in the safe corridor project of selected roads in the country.

According to him, the project is a success and the federal government hopes to replicate it on more roads in the country.

In his address Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, noted that the country had covered the key strategic actions of the UN declaration on road safety management, infrastructure, safe vehicles and road user behaviour.

Oyeyemi stated that the Corps was on course to do more to ensure compliance with traffic regulations and reduce carnage drastically.

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