Kebbi Govt, FRSC campaign to save lives, reduce road crashes
The Kebbi Government and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have pledged to fight major factors causing road traffic crashes to preserve lives and property on roads in the state.
Speaking at the 2023 Ember Months Flag-Off Campaign in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday, Gov. Nasir Idris, said that the period provided opportunities for people to come home for family unions and ceremonies in the state.
He said,” Owing to the development, our roads have always witnessed high vehicular traffic congestion, gridlocks, road traffic crashes and attendant loss of lives and properties.
“This situation is further worsened by the excesses of motorists along our corridors which leave horrifying nightmare in the minds of all stakeholders, motorists, travellers, government and security agencies.”
Idris, represented by the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Abdullahi Muslim, said that road safety happened through the deliberate efforts of the stakeholders.
“Every one of us here has a role to play. Drivers, students, insurers and security agencies,” he said.
The governor lauded the good leadership of the Sector Commander of FRSC in the state, Yusuf Haruna, saying that it had gone a long way in reducing road crashes in the state.
Earlier, ACM Ramalan Yerima, the Zonal Commanding Officer, in-charge of Zone 10 Sokoto, said that the mental and physical fitness of drivers were inevitable factors for any successful journey.
“It is compulsory for drivers to avoid driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol fatigue or anything that affects physical and mental fitness of the drivers,” he said.
Yerima commended the governor for making the state a conducive environment to operate.
He also said that the palliatives recently donated to FRSC in the state had changed the life of all staff in the current trying time.
According to him, the gesture will forever linger in the mind of all the staff.
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In his remarks, the sector commander said that from September to December, road traffic crashes and fatality usually increased due to vehicular movement, greed and reckless behavior of some commercial drivers.
“In order to mitigate this ugly menace during this period and beyond, FRSC came up with a holistic approach tagged ‘Ember Months Campaign’.
“It is characterised by aggressive public enlightenment, re-activation of traffic camp, creation of road traffic crashes help areas/clinics, deployment of staff long strategic location for traffic control, amongst others,” he said.
Haruna mentioned excessive speed, overloading, use of unsafe tyre, wrong packing, use of phone while driving, disobeying traffic signs, as forms of recklessness leading to road clashes.
The sector commander commended National Union of Road Transport Workers, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency and all the stakeholders for their entrenchment of a safe motoring environment in the state.
