Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has flagged off the 2021 ember months campaign of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Calabar, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Ayade, who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Ivara Esu, said that the campaign was targeted at educating and enlightening the motoring public on safety awareness on the highways.
The Governor, who noted that the campaign was timely, added that the ember months were usually loaded with high vehicular activities across the country.
He expressed satisfaction that the campaign will make the road safer for road users in the state, hence reducing road traffic crashes.
“Road safety is a cardinal aspect of our security and safety index. The ember month is notorious for road traffic crashes, hence, this campaign is timely.
“I must commend FRSC in Cross River for taking the bold step of increasing safety on the highways. We expect to see significant road crashes reduction this year so that we can better appraise this campaign.
“We must all be involved in maintaining and keeping our roads safe. Drivers and road users should imbibe road safety measures and reduce the speed rate on our highways,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Sector Commander of FRSC in Cross River, Mr Ocheja Ameh, said that the end of the year is usually associated with high vehicular and human mobility across the country which leads to avoidable road traffic crashes.
Ameh said that FRSC as the lead agency in road safety administration and traffic management in Nigeria, the campaign presents a unique road safety concern to them and to the people whom they were established to protect from the debilitating effects of road traffic consequences in Nigeria.
He said that the theme for the 2021 ember months was aptly chosen as “Maintain Safe Speed, Avoid Night Travels and Enjoy Quality Road Experience”.
“Road mishaps during the ember month’s period may be attributable to a number of reasons which are directly or indirectly linked to individual’s perception.
“This particular concern has been noted by the FRSC overtime and has been approached systematically through the platform of Special Ember Months flag-off operations.
“The very essence of this strategy is to compliment other effective mechanisms that have been employed in the year so as to stamp out avoidable road traffic crashes.
“The ultimate goal is to achieve the corporate strategic goals of the Corps which aims to achieve 15 percent and 20 percent reduction in road traffic crashes and fatality respectively,” he said.
According to him the Corps has been educating the motoring public to avoid night travels, speed, dangerous overtaking, overloading and lane indiscipline.
“FRSC is working relentlessly to ensure that every local government and command in Cross River is sufficiently mobilized to achieve a near-zero traffic fatality these ember months,” he added.
In his remarks, Zonal Commanding of FRSC, Mr Chidiebere Nkwonta, said that the campaign aims to reduce road traffic crashes and fatalities.
Nkwonta added that the Corps was partnering with critical stakeholders in the state to achieve the goal of road crash reduction.
©Copyright MOTORING WORLD INTERNATIONAL.
All rights reserved. Materials, photographs, illustrations and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior written permission from Motoring World International
Contact: [email protected]
