The The Federal Road Safety Commission and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have expressed their support for the establishment of professional training institutions for their personnel to discharge their Constitutional responsibilities.
They made their positions known at a public hearing on four bills for the establishment of road safety institutions and a motion being held by the House of Representatives Committee on Road Safety chaired by Akinfolarin Mayowa Samuel on Thursday.
In his presentation, Chairman of the Board, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mallam Bukhari Bello, disclosed that Nigeria is working inline with the various international agreements, Conventions and Treaties on road safety to ensure the safety of Nigerians on the road through the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC)
He added that, as part of the efforts to position the FRSC as a world class Organisation and meets international standard and obligations in road traffic Administration and safety management, the Federal Government acceded to all the six United Nations Conventions.
According to him, the conventions include; the 1968 Convention on Road Signs and Signals; the 1957 agreement concerning international carriage of dangerous goods; the 1958 agreement concerning adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts and the condition for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted.
Others include; the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic; the 1997 agreement concerning uniform conditions for periodic technical inspections for wheeled vehicles and the 1998 agreement concerning establishment of global technical regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or used on wheeled vehicles.
He added,” it is worthy to note that, for Nigeria to achieve the objectives of the above mentioned United Nations Conventions, other laws and regulations, training and retraining of members of the Corps is of utmost importance.
“It is my firm belief that, the establishment of the institutions would avail officers and Marshals of the Corps and interested members of the public opportunity for capacity building and development of positive policies that will eradicate the menace of road traffic crashes in the country. It will also enhance leadership qualities of such members of the Corps to be vibrant road traffic administrators and safety managers”.
In his presentation, the Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dauda Ali Biu who said, the establishment of the institutions will help the body discharge it’s Constitutional duty of ensuring road safety in Nigeria.
According to him, the FRSC is still constrained in it’s operations as a result of lack of enough personnel to cover the country and monitor it’s roads and highways.
Biu said, the FRSC have about 27,000 personnel whose work is only being augmented by a few thousand of volunteer Corps Marshals who sacrifice their time and resources to assist the organisation.
In his address earlier, the Committee Chairman, Akinfolarin Mayowa Samuel, said, the FRSC is taking the lead in traffic and safety management in Africa.
He commended the agency for it’s efforts to push for the establishment of institutions that will make it’s personnel more professional to provide safety to Nigerians.
The Bills considered at the public hearing include; “A Bill For An Act To Establish Federal Road Safety Commission Command And Staff College Ibadan To Serve As A High Level Center For Training Of Federal Road Safety Corps Personnel Of Strategic Sister Agencies, Relevant Ministries, Departments And Agencies And As A Center Of Research In Road Traffic Administration And Safety Management And For Related Matters (HB:1620); A Bill For An Act To Establish The Federal Road Safety Commission Inspectorate Training School As A Higher National Diploma Awarding Institution To Provide Academic And Professional Training And For Related Matters,. (HB:1621)”.
Other were; A Bill For An Act To Establish Federal Road Safety Commission Academy As A Degree Awarding Institution To Provide Academic And Professional Training And For Related Matters (HB:1622).
“A Bill For An Act To Establish Federal Road Safety Commission Road Marshal Assistant Training School And For Related Matters and A Motion On Recurring Blockade Of Highways By Articulated Trucks In Nigeria (HR:43/03/2021)”.
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