FRSC To Halt Road Accidents By 2020

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has reiterated its commitment towards realising the goals of the United Nations (UN) Global Decade of Action aimed at reducing road traffic crashes in Nigeria by 50 per cent between 2012 and 2020.

The commission, however, identified bad roads, inadequate funding of the body as some of the factors militating against smooth road safety management in the country.

FRSC, therefore, expressed its determination in ensuring that Nigeria always aligns itself with all UN strategies as well as other international best practices in road safety management.

Making this known in Enugu Wednesday while speaking on the occasion of the South East zone stakeholders conference on Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2012- 2016 draft paper, organized by the commission, the FRSC boss, Mr.Osita Chidoka, explained that the meeting became necessary with a view to enabling stakeholders from the area discuss the proposed document.

Represented on the occasion by the officer in charge of planning in the commission, Commander Ken Nwaegbe, the Corp Marshal and chief executive of FRSC, stated that such working document for the establishment became necessary because “as you are aware, the current road safety situation in the country, just like in many other sectors, cannot be said to have met the expectation of many Nigerians.”

His words: “Conscious of this and in line with meeting the goals of the UN Global Decade of Action (2012- 2020), as well as aligning to the federal government’s transformation agenda, the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy NRSS document is being developed to position the Corps within the league of the countries with the twenty safest roads in the world”

The countries within the league of the safest roads, he noted, did not just achieve that feat overnight, adding that it was due to conscious planning and implementation of national roads safety strategies, and the journey towards achieving such feat has started in Nigeria, Chidoka assured .

He used the forum to implore all the stakeholders to make frank contributions into the draft document as such inputs would assist in shaping the roads safety of “our dream”.

Chidoka, further assured that the document when fully realised, would definitely address all the bottle-necks being experienced in road safety management in the country.

In their separate remarks, participants at the forum had identified non implementation of policies and programmes as one of the factors that had always militated against “such wonderful programme in the past, calling on FRSC management to ensure that the NRSS dream was fully realised.

They,therefore, applauded the commission for the initiative which they strongly believed would go a long way in addressing some of the age long problems in the road safety management in  Nigeria.