AS NIGERIA INVESTS IN ROAD SAFETY MANAGEMENT, FRSC WINS INTERNATIONAL LAURELS

AS NIGERIA INVESTS IN ROAD SAFETY MANAGEMENT, FRSC WINS INTERNATIONAL LAURELS 

By DCC SANI ABDULLAHI 

Nigeria did something 37 years ago through its establishment of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) which other African nations and countries challenged by the menace of road traffic crashes never thought of. The policy of a national road safety lead agency with specialized personnel and powers to holistically deal with the challenges of road traffic management and safety administration in developing countries which Nigeria embraced in 1988 through the establishment of the FRSC only started gaining attention after the menace of road traffic crashes became global health concerns and the World Health Organization (WHO) had to recommend its adoption as the panacea for tackling the challenges.

The success story of Nigeria's FRSC which started like an experiment became so feasible that other African countries and developing societies affected by the menace of road traffic crashes started keying into the idea in their commitments to managing the challenges in their own countries. However, even though FRSC emerged out of the activism of some members of the civil society groups who were concerned with the huge social and economic losses that the nation was suffering from through wanton destruction of lives and property on the nation's roads caused by avoidable road crashes, it was the trust which the federal military government at the time gave to the initiative of a road safety lead agency that facilitated the processes that led to the emergence of the FRSC 37 years ago. 

Not only was the idea of the FRSC as the nation's lead agency for road traffic management and safety administration accepted by the highest ruling body of the military government through the enactments of the appropriate laws, government went further to give the organization an autonomy status that provided it with special protection against political interference by placing it directly under the supervision of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. 

Meanwhile, the Corps also enjoys the privilege of federal budgetary allocations and powers of expenditure in manners that have consistently enhanced its operational and rescue capabilities over the years. 

That's why successive Corps Marshals have taken it upon themselves to treat the Corps as a national trust and remained committed and focused on preserving the original vision that brought the organization to national consciousness. FRSC has, therefore, continued to enjoy improvements in its system and processes over the years, such that at every moment of its existence, there has always been new developments that would justify government's investments and public trust in it. 

In December last year, for instance, two former Corps Marshals decided to visit the National Headquarters of the Corps in Abuja where they were hosted by the incumbent Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed to see things for themselves. In their separate statements after the visits, the two past Chief Executives of the Corps were unanimous in their assessments that the growth and development of the FRSC have been both monumental and incremental. Dr Olu Agunloye was the pioneer Corps Marshal who laid the original foundation of the FRSC, while Chief Osita Chidoka was the one that revolutionized the use of information and communication technology (ICT) as a veritable means of managing road traffic, both of who noted that they were not disappointed with what they saw during their visits and agreed that they met the human and logistics profiles of the Corps better and more robust to drive the system to greater success.

FRSC which embraced technology as part of its development programs right from the onset was the organization that initiated the concept of uniform licensing scheme in Nigeria in 1990 and continued to advance on the initiative through reform that led us to the point where the Nigeria drivers license has today become acceptable globally. In the same vein, the organization was able to achieve the feat of acquiring the international organization for standardization (ISO) certificate when the FRSC acquired ISO 9001:2008) certificate 12 years ago to become the first law enforcement agency in Africa to do so.

For an organization that was set up mainly to manage road traffic crashes through effective rescue operations in saving the lives of the victims through prompt response to distress calls, its ability to build a call centre that links all its vehicles across the country for centralized monitoring at the National Headquarters was novel in Nigeria's search for solutions to prompt response to emergencies. For those that believe that the Corps does not have time for physical and mental developments of its personnel, therefore, the fact that FRSC has been able to consistently produce athletes and sports men and women that won different laurels for Nigeria in international sports competitions including the Olympics games is a freshing evidence of its capacity to diversity to other non road safety areas in the nation building efforts. 

For the avoidance of doubt, FRSC personnel not only won several laurels in various sports events in football, basketball and others in which the organization has standing teams that continue to dazzle spectators and win for the Corps, but the nation at large in Local, Continental and International sports competitions. That tradition of winning laurels has been beautifully sustained by the current leadership of Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed who came into office in May last year. 

As a demonstration of commitment to the old tradition of promoting sports and other human development activities with winning history by the Corps, the Shehu Mohammed-led management achieved the feat of its Female Handball Team winning the Ardova Premier League last year which secured them a Continental ticket to represent Nigeria in the 2025 African Cup Winners Cup Competition. This happened barely 8 months into his office in December last year. 

In continuation of this winning tradition, the Corps Marshal was presented with a special award by Prior Orators in recognition of his commitment to developing the capacity of the personnel of the FRSC through various training programs in March this year after which the Kwapda's Road Safety Demands (KRSD) an NGO of the President of the Court of Appeal, Rt Honourable Justice Monica Dongban-mensen followed suit with the presentation of the Corps Marshal with two awards during the one day seminar to review the Marrakech declaration on road safety held at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja.

The biggest and latest of them all was the Best Road Safety Agency in Africa award won by the FRSC in recognition of its aggressive and sustained campaign against the menace of road traffic crashes in Africa and the world at large under the auspices of the prestigious Kofi Anan African Road Safety Awards. It was presented to the Corps Marshal in an elaborate ceremony that took place in Elzuwini, the Kingdom of Eswatani in South Africa on 15 of April, 2025. On hand to receive the highly rated award on behalf of the Corps Marshal was the Principal Staff Officer to the Corps Marshal, Assistant Corps Marshal Meshac A Jattau, fwc.

It was indeed, another reaffirmation by the global road safety community under the auspices of the United Nations, that Nigeria's investments in road safety management are not misplaced, and that, FRSC under Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed is on the right track in his commitment to moving the Corps to greater heights in the best tradition of a road safety lead agency with modernist inclinations capable of taking road safety consciousness to the global stage. 

As we congratulate Nigeria for its sustained investments in the FRSC over the years which have manifested in the annals of local and international laurels won by the Corps both in road safety and non road safety competitions, as the nation's lead agency for road traffic management and safety administration in the country, we must give kudos to Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed for building on the success story and remaining committed to pushing the bar of the Corps to greater heights.

Congratulations to Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed and members of his Management team as well as the entire staff on the feat. Many more wins for us.

... Abdullahi is the Deputy Corps Commander in charge of Strategy in the office of the Corps Marshal