[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Osun state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has commended members of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state for their high sense of responsibility and commitment to issues of road safety and security of lived and property.
The Governor gave the commendation while receiving the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi and members of his entourage who were on advocacy visit to the Government House Osogbo.
According to the Corps Marshal, he was in the state in continuation of his nationwide tour of commands and was at the Government House to thank the Governor for his unrelenting support to road safety campaigns, especially for promptly providing land for construction of the FRSC pennant office complex in the state capital. He also commended him for other logistics he has provided to the Corps which have enhanced the Corps’ operations.
He added that with the recurrence of road traffic crashes on some parts of the roads in the state, there was the need for joint effort between the FRSC and the state to tackle the menace and restore sanity and confidence of the people to the use of the roads. The Corps Marshal identified corridors posing challenges to the Corps as Ife, Ilesa and Akure, describing the frequency of road traffic crashes occurring along the roads as disturbing.
“We must work together to tackle the menace and restore sanity and people’s confidence to the safety of the areas,” he stated.
Oyeyemi further hanked the Governor for his interest in road safety matters, recalling his support for the approval of the National Road Safety Strategy document and inauguration of the National Road Safety Advisory Council which demonstrates Federal Government’s political will to tackle issues of road safety in the country .
He stressed that with the inauguration of the Council which has the Vice President as the Chairman along with six Governors representing each of the six geopolitical zones of the country as well as ministers and professional bodies as members of the Council, the role of all tiers of government and nongovernmental organisations have been well defined in line with the shared nature of road safety campaign.
On the enforcement of regulations on speed limiters, the Corps Marshal assured that with adequate public enlightenment programmes undertaken by the stakeholders , the support of all branches of government and stakeholders’ resolutions on enforcement date , the Corps will remain committed to full implementation of the policy , insisting that there would be no going back on the enforcement.
The Corps Marshal also assured the Governor that in line with FRSC’s spirit of collaboration on matters of road safety, he would partner with the state government to provide appropriate training and capacity development programmes in traffic management to the personnel of the state traffic management agency to allow for harmonised traffic management system and rescue operations among traffic management agencies across the country.
In his remarks, Governor Aregbesola who described road transportation as the most popular means of conveying people and goods in the country, commended the FRSC leadership for its commitment to saving lives and property. While identifying road and vehicle as the central elements to the menace of road traffic crashes, he called for robust public enlightenment programmes to change people’s attitude towards road safety.
The Governor particularly commended FRSC for its massive deployment of public enlightenment tools to propagate the message of road safety to members of the public, giving assurance of his commitment to supporting the Corps to succeed in its campaigns .
“I am very much appreciative of the model of operations of your agency. I commend all your personnel for their unrelenting commitment to saving lives and property of the people and we would continue to work together to achieve the goal,” he stated.
The Governor further commended the Federal Government for rehabilitating Ilesa and Akure roads, saying that action demonstrated the concern of the government to safety of lives. He warned drivers to show restraint while using the road, attributing the spate of road crashes along the identified corridors to indiscipline.
While assuring that the state is working assiduously with relevant security agencies to combat incidents of armed robbery and kidnapping on certain parts of the roads in the state, the Governor appealed to the FRSC to assist in providing intelligence that could lead to the apprehension of the perpetrators of the acts.
On the last communal crisis which happened at IIfe community area of the state, the Governor gave kudos to all the security agencies in the state including the FRSC for responding promptly to the challenge,thereby seeing further damage and escalation of the crisis. He noted that with prompt mobilisation of security to the affected area the situation was brought under control within two hours.
Alhaji Raid Aregbedola further gave assurances that efforts are being made by the state government to avert future occurrences, saying most of the reports on the crisis in the media are exaggerated, as the origin of the crisis was disagreements between two friends which has been settled. He said contrary to reports in the media what was witnessed was not actually an ethnic crisis, but disagreement that was hijacked by some hoodlums.
In a related development, the Corps Marshal has tasked staff of Osun State Sector Command to remain committed to improved service delivery in the determination to restore sanity on the roads. He gave the charge while addressing staff on parade during his visit to the state. He warned them against acts of indiscipline, saying Management will not tolerate indolence, rumour mongering and corrupt practices which undermine the integrity of the Corps.
While restating his Management’s commitment to issues of staff welfare, Oyeyemi enjoined staff to rreciprocae the kind gesture of the government by rededicating themselves to the task of delivering safety to the people. He disclosed that as part of the efforts to improve the efficiency of the Corps’ promotion examination process, every cadre of the Corps is expected to undergo promotion course from this year, while the present syllabus of the promotion courses is being reviewed to make it more relevant and up to date.
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