Corps Commences Road Safety Training In Delta

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal, Mr. Osita Chidoka, said the commission has taken measures to instil a behavioural change among young Nigerians as part of efforts to have a new set of road culture in the country.

In an address at a two-day training workshop for primary and secondary schools on road safety in Warri recently, Chidoka said the measures were aimed at complying with the United Nation’s declaration of 2011 to 2020 as a decade of road safety.

Chidoka, represented by Mr. Yakubu Atta, the Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 5, said the United Nations (UN) declaration was to make government put in place dedicated actions to reduce road traffic accidents by 50 per cent by 2020.

He said the training would give a perspective on the best approach for educating students on road safety best practices.

Our correspondent reports that the training programme tagged “Niger Delta Road Safety, Children Education Programme”, was organised by the Delta Command of FRSC in conjunction with the Shell Petroleum and Development Company (SPDC) and the state Ministry of Education.

Chidoka urged the state Ministry of Education to put in place measures to ensure that the training was put to use by carrying out pre- and post-implementation tests for performance evaluation on the students.

The FRSC Sector Commander, Mr. Luka Ikpi, said that one of the major causes of road traffic crashes in the country was the road user’s behaviour, which needed to be changed.

He said the programme was one of the strategies adopted by the FRSC to “catch them young”, in view of the fact that children were the future leaders of tomorrow.

“If we influence them by inculcating good road user values in them, our roads will be better during their time”.

Ikpi announced that at least 1.20 million deaths were recorded globally in 2010 as a result of road traffic crashes, while Nigeria recorded 18,094 injuries and 4,065 deaths.

The Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Summonu, said that the decision to partner with FRSC was in line with the company’s safety consciousness.

Summon, represented by  the Human Resources Location Manager, West, Dr Chidi Olele, said safety should not be taken for granted, noting that it was a continuous concept.