FRSC vows to reverse crash trends nationwide

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has pledged to reverse the current trend of Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in Nigeria by restrategising and applying drastic measures to the challenge.

FRSC Corps Marshal, Mallam Shehu Mohammed, said this during a strategic session organised for commanding officers of the corps in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mohammed implored the officers to utilise the strategy session as a veritable platform to review the administration of the corps’ operations and proffer solutions to the challenges of road crashes.

He recalled emphasising the need to rejig the corps’ operations and digitalise its processes and procedures in his maiden address to staff upon his assumption of office.

“Others are training and retraining of staff to enhance professionalism and productivity, promoting strategic partnership for collective responsibility on road safety matters and entrenching discipline in line with the ethics of regimentation.

“These are in addition to improving staff welfare with the view to motivating staff for excellent service delivery,” he said.

The FRSC boss said that pursuant to the above objectives, the corps had initiated some programmes to mitigate road crashes.

According to him, some of the programmes are the Road Transport Standardisation Scheme (RTSS), Driving School Standardisation Programme (DSSP), National Vehicle Identification Scheme (NVIS), and National Uniform License Scheme (NULS).

He mentioned the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) as the most current of the programmes.

He explained that while the programmes were still in their various stages of maturation, they had significantly reduced carnage on the highways.

Mohammed, however, said despite all efforts, statistics on road crashes revealed there was more to be done to reduce the number of injuries and deaths resulting from road crashes.

“Between January and December 2023, there were 10,617 reported cases of RTCs in Nigeria. Out of that number, 5,081 were reported killed with 31,874 injured.

“Accordingly, between January and June 2024, there were 5,078 reported cases of RTCs in Nigeria with 16,309 sustaining various degrees of injuries.

“This crash statistics is still alarming and unacceptable. Nigerians are looking up to the corps and there are high expectations from us to deliver.

“Therefore, we need to reverse this trend. Let us agree that if we keep doing the same thing, we will keep getting the same results. Drastic challenges require drastic solutions,” he said.

He, therefore, urged all commanding officers to rise to the occasion by challenging their operatives for more practical approaches to road safety management.

Mohammed tasked them to eschew actions capable of denigrating the image of the corps, adding that commanding officers would be held responsible for their actions and inactions.

He assured that FRSC would work closely with other stakeholders, including state governments, transport unions, and vehicle manufacturers, to address the root causes of road crashes and find lasting solutions.

“With the FRSC’s renewed commitment to road safety, Nigerians can expect a significant reduction in road crashes and a safer motoring environment,” he said.