[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n furtherance of the ongoing road safety advocacy in the country, which aligns with the 2017 strategic goals of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Eniitan Ojaja 11 has agreed to chair the 7th annual lecture series of the FRSC, scheduled to take place in August this year at the nation’s Federal capital Territory, Abuja.
The foremost traditional ruler disclosed his consent recently while receiving the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi at his palace at Ife in company of full commitment of members of his traditional Council, saying he would use all his traditional influences to mobilize for the success of the campaign to keep the nation’s roads safer for all users.
Oba Adeyeye who poured encomium on the Corps Marshal for his untiring commitment to issues of road safety in the country stated that in the spirit of shared responsibility, all patriotic citizens must wake up to the task of keeping our roads safer from the menace of road traffic crashes and the resultant death and injuries.
According to him, his consent to actively participate in the road safety campaign is to demonstrate the need for collective action against the menace of road traffic crashes and to encourage all members of the public to imbibe the culture of safety while using the road.
He commended the FRSC Management for coming up with the initiative of annual lecture series which would promote education and enlightenment of members of the public on issues of road safety. The traditional ruler appealed to all road users to operate with safety consciousness, noting that road traffic crashes occur due to the action or inaction of the drivers. He therefore appealed to all road users to always obey the traffic rules and regulations to curtail the rate of road traffic crashes in the country.
The Oba assured the Management of the FRSC that he would continue to show interest in the road safety campaigns and enjoined them to always call on him for traditional support whenever the need arises,adding that his door would remain open to lead people for creation of public awareness on road safety.
Earlier in his remarks, the Corps Marshal described the Ooni as a Road Safety friendly traditional ruler who has always shown tremendous interest in road safety matters. Oyeyemi recalled the warm reception given to him and members of his entourage as well as the prompt attention given to the invitation to chair the lecture series as heart warming. He stated that the FRSC annual lecture series was instituted some years back as a platform for creating public awareness on issues of road safety and to particularly stress the need for concerted effort by all and sundry to deal with the challenges which the menace of road traffic crashes pose to humanity especially people from the developing economies who are challenged by the menace of the crashes in their social and economic life.
According to the Corps Marshal, the FRSC annual lecture series normally attract scholars and experts on road safety from across the globe in discourse that emphasise the plight of the people in road safety challenged environment and need for collective effort by government and nongovernmental organisations to contain the menace. He expressed the gratitude of members of the FRSC Management, staff and stakeholders to the Ooni for his prompt consent to chair the event. This he said would give impetus to the international gathering and encourage government, members of the public as well as policy makers to give priority to issues of road safety in the nation’s development effort.
The Corps Marshal praised the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for its uncommon support for road safety campaigns in the country, citing the quantum of logistics and moral support given to the Corps by the administration for the development of road safety ideals in the country. He therefore restated the commitment of the entire staff to reciprocate the gestures by sustaining the aggressive campaign for the restoration of sanity on the nation.
Oyeyemi expressed appreciation to the traditional institutions in the country for the solidarity they have shown to road safety campaigns, saying such solidarity was a demonstration to the traditional institutions’ commitment to safety of the road users. He appealed for sustained support, adding that without joint effort, the challenges of road safety could undermine the effort being made locally and internationally to bring sanity to the roads.
The Corps Marshal further used the avenue to thank members of the National Assembly for consistently demonstrating support for the success of the Corps’ programmes as evidenced by its reviews of the establishment Act of the Corps and public hearings that had been organised to create awareness on various policy decisions of the Corps. He invited all members of the public to attend the lecture and explore ways of contributing to the campaign for the success of the campaign for safer road environment.
The Corps Marshal was accompanied on the visit by some principal officers of the FRSC, including the Deputy Corps Marshsl in charge of operations, the Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 11 Osogbo and Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Policy, Research and Statistics at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja among others.
