Corps Marshal urges collaboration for safety in Ember months

•Trailer divers lament poor state of roads

Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, has enjoined state governments, security agencies and the public to join in the campaign to ensure that Nigerian roads are safe.

Oyeyemi made the call at the inauguration of the 2015 Ember Months Campaign, held in Onitsha, the Anambra State commercial city.

He described the months of September, October, November and December as period that demands caution and reflection by all road users.

According to the Corps Marshal, Onitsha occupies a very crucial place in the nation’s traffic management, hence the decision to kick off the national Ember Months Campaign in Anambra.

The campaign is themed “ Operation Sanity: Driving safely into 2016.”

He commended Anambra State Government for the long-standing collaboration the FRSC had enjoyed and urged other state governments to emulate Governor Willie Obiano’s examples.

He lauded the campaign against sale and use of drugs at motor parks, which the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Police had helped the FRSC command in the state to institutionalise.

Oyeyemi noted, “We support of all governments, security agencies and all transport stakeholders to join us in the quest for accident-free roads that we desire because only the living celebrate.”

In his speech Obiano, the state governor, lauded the activities of the FRSC, saying they had done well in ensuring t sanity on the roads.

Obiano disclosed that his administration had commenced the construction of a truck park that could contain about 100 tankers as wells as hostel where long-distance drivers could rest at night at Ogidi, near Onitsha.

According to him, this arrangement would ensure stricter compliance with the ban on night driving for trailer drivers.

He promised continued support of his administration for the corps in the state by providing all necessary logistics to make it more effective.

Pius Ani, the chairman of petroleum tanker drivers, said the various unions were willing and already complying with the various FRSC policies, including the use of retro-reflective tape, speed limiters and zero tolerance to alcohol.

Ani, however, deplored the bad condition of roads in some parts of the country, calling on the Federal Government to quickly fix them because “they are dangerous to our activities.”