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October 1 dateline for speed-limiters sacrosanct, says FRSC

By Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh (Uyo) and Abba Anwar (Kano)
09 September 2016   |   2:02 am
This was disclosed by the commission’s Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at a public enlightenment forum for transport stakeholders held at old AKTC Park, along Ikot-Ekpene Road.
FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi

FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi

• Commission takes sensitisation campaign to Kano parks
• Corps member launches distress call mobile application

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said it had concluded plans to enforce the use of speed-limiting device effective October l, 2016.

This was disclosed by the commission’s Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at a public enlightenment forum for transport stakeholders held at old AKTC Park, along Ikot-Ekpene Road.

Represented by the Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Policy, Research and Statistics, Dr. Michael Kayode Olagunju, expressed dismay over the staggering statistics of road crashes in Nigeria’s highways.

The Corps Marshal regretted that most of the crashes would have been avoided if appropriate safety measures were adopted by motorists.

According to him, the speed-limiting device, which would take effect from October 1, would save Nigerians the embarrassment on the highways, noting that accidents are caused and not made.

“Most of the road crashes are preventable, if we are able to bring down the speed, we will be saving a lot of lives on our highways,” he said.

In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Godwin Ntukude, said he was happy with the introduction of the speed-limiting device, but advised that a technical session with all stakeholders be held to enlighten them on the nitty-gritty of the policy.

Also, the command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Godgive Uwem, said with the introduction of the device, Nigeria has joined countries like Japan, Australia, Sweden, and United States (U.S.), which had already introduced the policy in their countries.

In his welcome address, the Zonal Commanding Officer in charge of operations, Mr. J. Aremu, called on all stakeholders to key into the new policy to minimise road crashes on the highways.

Meanwhile, the Commission has taken sensitisation campaign on the installation of speed-limiter to motor parks in Kano, calling on drivers’ associations to embrace the new device as an attempt to save lives and property.

The Deputy Corp Marshal, Ahmed Hassan Kogari, who represented the Corp Marshal at the event that took place at Kano Line Motor Park, Kofar Nassarawa, Kano, emphasised the need for commercial drivers to accept the initiative as being accepted by the national body of their union.

“We are taking this campaign to those that matter most in the new development for the safety of our lives and property. We also plan to sensitise road users on the general issues surrounding road usage,” he said.

According to him, the campaign would be taken to all the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

In another development, a corps member serving in Minna, Mr. Musa Bello, has designed a road safety awareness and distress call centre‎ mobile application that can be downloaded on the play store.

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bello, at the launch of the application in Minna Wednesday, said the application would display the location of the caller so that emergency managers could come to his or her aid faster.

The corps member, who is serving with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), said: “I developed this application as part of my personal Community Development Service (CDS). It can be used to call all emergency‎ phone numbers.”

He said the initiative would make it easier for people to reach‎ out to relevant authorities in emergency situations.

In her remarks, the Niger State NYSC Co-ordinator, Mrs. Bolade Loto, represented by Mr. Michael Macaulay, urged corps members to execute projects that would meet the needs of their host-communities.

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