By Ibrahim Ramalan
Abuja
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) yesterday at its 27th anniversary and award presentation ceremony awarded Blueprint and other media organisations for their outstanding contributions to road safety activities for the year 2014.
The Corps also honoured some of its outstanding men and officers for upholding the integrity of the Corps during rescue operations in the same year and for returning recovered cash at road traffic cases (RTC) scenes.
Speaking as Special Guest of Honour, Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, urged the officers and men of FRSC not to rest on their oars, but keep the flag flying as evidence abound in the country that crash records had decreased.
Chidoka, who is the immediate past Corps Marshal, said he was impressed by the landslide achievements of the agency, adding that more efforts were needed in the urban areas, adding: “But by authorising the Corps to carry arms, I believe they would be more vigilant and tighter in their operations.
In his welcome address, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Boboye Oyeyemi, said that the milestones covered by the FRSC since its inception had led to a sophisticated and standardised institution that had become a reference point, not only in Nigeria, but globally.
Oyeyemi pointed out that in the coming weeks, FRSC shall be unveiling to the public, the flying ticket initiative, “which is aimed at integrating members of the public into making our roads safe, with their reportage of road indiscipline, which the FRSC would act upon using such information to locate these road traffic perpetrators and punish them accordingly.”
In his remarks, former Corps Marshal/Chief Executive of the FRSC, Maj. Gen. HA Hananiya (retd), commended the milestones achieved by the FRSC in the area of digitalisation of its process and operations. He, however, urged the Corps Marshal to ensure that his personnel are always on the road so that the frequency of road accidents and violation of road safety measures are reduced to the barest minimum.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Anyim Pius Anyim, represented by the special assistant to the president, Ferdinand Aghor, commended the FRSC for its unparalleled efforts to make our roads safer, and the rate at which it was working to surmount its challenges which he enjoined other MDAs to emulate this effort.