Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima Wednesday said the federal government recognises road crashes as a major public health challenge with socio-economic consequences.
Accordingly, Shettima noted that the government was committed to saving lives and promoting a sustainable road transport system.
The Vice President disclosed this in Abuja while declaring open the Federal Road Society Corps (FRSC) 8th Annual Lecture series open.
He recalled that the last annual lectures was held in 2017, saying the decision to resuscitate the lecture series this year was hinged on the need to utilise global partnership as leverage to domesticate global best practices as remedial action on the road safety issues in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole.
Shettima stated: “It is on record that previous lecture series yielded highly beneficial insights leading to improvements on safer driving habits and attitudes through evidence-based guidance and sustained enlightenment campaigns that also translated into improvements in the capacity of road safety transport operators as well as responders to road crashes.
“For instance, through the FRSC efforts, Nigeria hosts the Permanent Secretariat of the West Africa Road Safety Organization (WARSO) and currently, Nigeria was also elected to host the Permanent Secretariat of the Africa Lead Agencies on Road Safety (ARSLA); amongst several other laurels and awards as best performing agency in road traffic management.
“These are remarkable achievements deserving of Government commendation.
“I wish to assure you that the government recognises road crashes as a major public health challenge with socio-economic consequences. Accordingly, government is committed to saving lives and promoting a sustainable road transport system.
“We are aware that the FRSC Amendment Bill has passed 3rd Reading at the House of Representatives and is awaiting concurrence at the Senate.”
Shettima commended FRSC for its numerous laudable achievements which placed Nigeria on focus as a lead country in road safety management in the West Africa sub-region as well as in Africa in general.
He assured that the federal government would continue to promote compliance to global best practices in road safety by supporting innovations that strengthen the Corps to ensure compliance to road safety laws and regulations.
The Vice President also urged the participants to deliberate on practicable and applicable measures that would sanitise the highways with a view to achieving the target of 50 per cent reduction of crash fatalities/injuries by the year 2030.
On his part, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume said such a forum was critical to the needs of addressing identified gaps in road traffic safety management and administration in the country.
He said over the years, the effort of the FRSC had translated into improved awareness on proper road use, vehicle maintenance as well as setting standards for fleet operators in the country.
Akume noted: “As we are all aware, over 90 per cent of transportation is through the road transport, hence the need for safety precaution on the road cannot be overemphasised.
Also, the Corp Marshal, FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, said the purpose of the Lecture Series is to share experiences and provide fresh perspectives on road safety management in Nigeria.
He assured that the resolutions emerging from the lectures would catalyse into formidable road safety policies that would lead to positive behavioural changes in driving culture.