Ebonyi State has hosted Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Boboye Oyeyemi in his nationwide campaign to cut road crashes in the country.
Since his appointment, he has not only expressed his desire to reduce fatalities on the roads but has seized every opportunity where he went to sensitise road users on safety.
Oyeyemi says he wants to reduce crashes by 50 per cent next year.
To this end he has been touring the states of the federation to sensitize stakeholders, road safety officials on the policies and programmes being put in place by the Corps to meet the target.
The tour also provides him the opportunity to strengthen inter-agency cooperation with other bodies like the police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), military and National Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), among others.
It was the turn of Ebonyi State last week to play host to the Corps Marshal and his team.
Oyeyemi was received by the state commandant of the Corps, Mrs Ann Abhiele alongside leaders of other agencies at the Command Headquarters along the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway.
From there he went to the Peoples Club Resort Auditorium where he addressed stakeholders on the policies of his administration.
The FRSC, he said, will install what he called “speed governors” in all commercial vehicles in the country, adding that the enforcement of the speed checkers will start by June next year.
The Corps Marshal noted that the installation of speed governors will reduce road traffic crashes in Nigeria.
He added that the enforcement of the installment of speed governors in all commercial vehicles was born out of the need to curb overspeeding.
Oyeyemi explained that the command is mounting advocacy and enlightenment campaign at motor parks, adding that the Corps has made plans to provide logistics for effective operation.
He said that the Corps has notified all the transport workers’ associations in the country and appreciated the cooperation between them and the transport workers’ associations.
He said, “The most important thing is for us to recognize that we are all working together to lift the nation and ensure peaceful coexistence and development. I am happy with the inter-agency co-operation existing among all the security agencies in the state”.
”The NDLEA has been helping us a lot; in the process of arresting people dealing in fake drugs they also arrest people dealing in fake number plates and promptly hands them over to us. It shows we are all working together. From what I have seen here, all the agencies are working together and this is how it should be because we are working together and it shows that we are making progress.
“What road safety is all about is safety on our roads that is why we say safer roads safer life for us to reduce crashes. From the data I have received here I could see an appreciable reduction is road crashes but yet just like Oliver Twist I’m not yet satisfied.
“What I want to see is zero crash; I know it is a big task but I’m sure with more strategies we can achieve that. We are in the ember-months now and we are putting the appropriate machinery in place for the end of year patrol operations”.
“We will provide more logistics to the command; we are also increasing our advocacy, education and enlightenment with more campaigns at local parks. We have seen that speed violation account for 39 percent of all total road crashes and also loss of control accounts for about 15 percent that means that over 50 per cent of crashes is as a result of two factors alone.
“Because of that we evolved a policy. We said that to cut down the speed we must compel all commercial vehicles and high capacity buses to install the speed governors. With the stakeholders we have already signed a memorandum of understanding. By 1st of June we are going to commence enforcement of participation and installation of the speed governors on all the commercial vehicles, high-capacity buses, trailers, tankers, trucks. And the unions have been very cooperative. Because they are buying into it and with the installation we believe if we can cut down the speed we will go a long way to reduce road crashes substantially.
“This is one critical area where there is no going back. We must crash the crash by compelling all commercial vehicles to install speed governors. And we are not the marketing officers, anybody wishing to install the governors can go and get the cap number from the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and with these you can install it. We are hell bent that next year we must cut down the rate of crashes. We are targeting reduction of fatalities by 50 percent in 2015 and to reduce fatalities we must cut down the crashes”.
“Also the UN decade of action stipulates that fatalities must be reduced by 50 per cent and having signed on to this decade of action which is a UN mandate for all member nations of the UN we must bring about the instrumentalism to get this done.
”We are also working to ensure compliance to all the statutes laws and regulations is complied with by all road users. On vehicle maintenance, we don’t allow all un-road worthy vehicles to be on the road for the end of the year patrol, so all road users should make sure that their vehicles are road worthy. Any rickety vehicle will not be tolerated.
“On overloading we are not going to compromise our stance on this issue of over loading. All vehicles should carry the number of approved passengers. All these lives we are losing are human beings we need the understanding and full collaboration of everyone to ensure that we stop it. Everyone is planning for 2015 already but the only way to ensure we are alive to achieve our goals in 2015 is by being road safety conscious at all times and obeying all traffic laws and regulation”.
