The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, has enjoined Nigerians to join the Federal Road Safety Corps in its campaigns for a safer road environment.
Sanusi said the present rate of road traffic crashes and fatalities in Nigeria and other West African countries have become worrisome.
He stated this when he received the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, who paid an advocacy visit to him in his palace.
According to Head of Media Relations and Strategy of the FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, Sanusi said the rate of road traffic crashes in the world, particularly in the West African sub-region, is disturbing and has got to a point where every concerned citizen must join hands with the FRSC to find lasting solutions to the menace.
The Emir noted that the last edition of the ECONOMIST magazine painted a frightening picture of how the menace of road traffic crashes is ravaging the people of the sub-Saharan Africa, saying 40 out of the 50 countries identified as vulnerable in road crash index are from the West African sub-region.
This, according to him, makes road crashes more destructive to the people than malaria diseases.
“Your task is therefore, very tedious,” he told the Corps Marshal.
Sanusi identified factors such as lack of pedestrian bridges in most cities, impatience of the road users and excessive speeding as factors responsible for the high incidence of road crashes and fatalities in the country.
The Emir therefore enjoined Oyeyemi to establish robust collaboration with relevant stakeholders who are in charge of different aspects of road maintenance so that they can regularly maintain the deplorable state of the roads, fix the malfunctioning traffic lights and construct pedestrian bridges at the relevant points to save people from being knocked down while trying to cross the road.
The Emir also called on Nigerians to always observe traffic rules and regulations, show patience while using the road and avoid all acts capable of compromising road safety, promising to use the traditional institution to promote the ideals of road safety..
Earlier in his remarks, Oyeyemi congratulated the Emir on his appointment.
He said Sanusi has been a great supporter of the FRSC from his days at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
While applauding him for his past roles in road safety campaigns, Oyeyemi appealed for Sanusi’s continued support for the FRSC’s campaigns using the traditional platform.
The Corps Marshal further informed the Emir that he was in Kano State to flag off the end of the year road safety campaign for the North West Zone, saying the FRSC is doing all it could to make the festive period safe and free for all road users.
He disclosed that the FRSC is working in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders on how to tackle the challenges of excessive speeding and deal adequately with the menace of tanker crashes, noting that the Corps would soon commence aggressive enforcement on compulsory use of speed limiters.
Oyeyemi noted that following the initial deadline given to motorists on compulsory use of speed limiters, enforcement could have commenced on September 1, 2015, but had to be stepped down to enable all the stakeholders have sufficient enlightenment in order to make the enforcement smooth.
He said the new enforcement date has been set to April 1, 2016
The Corps Marshal disclosed that as part of the ongoing efforts to bring sanity to haulage operations in the country, retraining and recertification of the truck drivers, which was flagged off in Lagos in July, had been conducted in nine centres across the country, pointing out that the second phase of the training programme will hold in Kano in collaboration with the state government.
To achieve success in the campaign, the Corps Marshal appealed to the Emir for sustained support saying Kano state is strategic to the success of road safety campaigns in the country in view of the volume of traffic it attracts..
The Corps Marshal was accompanied on the visit by some principal officers of the FRSC, including the Deputy Corps Marshal in charge of operation, Adei Abu; and the Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 1, Kaduna, Assistant Corps Marshal Victor Nwokolo.
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