The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad III is angry with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for its failure over the years to arrest and prosecute drivers of big men in the society, who often engage in dangerous driving on the roads.
Speaking at the 6th Annual Lecture Series organized by the FRSC today, Tuesday in Abuja, Abubakar III said that convoy drivers of highly placed individuals in Nigeria are treated like sacred cows, as they drive dangerously on the roads, thereby endangering themselves and the lives of other road users.
The Sultan, who was the Chairman of the occasion, called for a new FRSC that would be alive to its statutory responsibilities on the roads even s he advocated capacity building for the personnel of the FRSC who work on the road to ensure safety.
He said that they should be trained both psychologically and mentally, adding that Nigeria has lost more lives through road traffic crashes than air crashes.
The Sultan noted that Nigerian citizens reserve the right to live safely, adding that all hands must be on deck to ensure road safety.
Also speaking, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, expressed the commitment of the present administration to guarantee safety and security of Nigerians.
Lawal said that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier directed the drivers of all Federal establishments to undergo training under the FRSC, saying that the administration would work assiduously to embark on massive construction of roads across the country in a bid to mitigate the spate of road traffic crashes.
He acknowledged that road safety is a shared responsibility, even as he called on the three tiers of government to collaborate to reduce the carnage on the roads.
In his lecture, Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State, who spoke on the “State Road Traffic Management Efforts: The LASTMA Experience,” called for the creation of enabling environment for law enforcement agencies to operate effectively.
Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, also advocated the provision of legal framework for the enforcement agencies to ensure effectiveness in the management of road traffic in the states.
Using the Lagos experience, Ambode said that Lagos lost N42 billion worth of labour on annual basis as a result of chaotic traffic situation in the past before the introduction of LASTMA. [myad]
