The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, discusses his strategic focus since assuming office in May 2024, highlighting road safety, operational efficiency, and technological advancements in this interview with GIFT HABIB
Since assuming office in May last year, what has been your primary focus as the head of the FRSC?
I assumed office toward the end of May last year and started working earnestly in the first week of June. This is a government agency, meaning that leadership is a continuous process. The FRSC has a primary mandate; to reduce and minimise road traffic crashes; and to make and create a safe and secure environment for motorists and all other users. We also have secondary mandates.
So when I came in, I looked at how we can improve our mandates as an International Organisation of Standardisation. Firstly, I sought ways of rejigging the operations and re-directing new strategies to deploy our personnel to all the critical areas on the road, to increase our visibility. Secondly, there was a need to train and retrain staff from the management level to the middle level and the operational level. We have started that. Also, we sought to enhance technological advancements, including body-worn cameras, electronic document management systems, and more. On staff welfare, especially promotion, we carried out successful promotion exercises throughout 2024, and then we also carried out the harmonisation of Higher National Diploma certificate holders. We looked at collaborations and partnerships with relevant stakeholders because FRSC is one agency that relies heavily on partnership and collaboration. Lastly, I emphasise discipline, because it encourages and builds the professionalism required to stand out. We have zero tolerance for corruption and patrol misconduct, among others.
How is the FRSC addressing issues such as overloading, reckless driving, and unroadworthy vehicles, which are major causes of road crashes?
Such offences are challenging, especially by those motorists who are already bent on overloading and cannot do without speeding. So we initiated what we call “total war on critical offences”. It is a strategy to adopt total war against critical offences such as overloading, speeding, mixed loading, and driving under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating substances. We formed a kind of special operation on that and we try as much as possible to make sure that our operatives, wherever they are, dwell on those critical offences. The new trend of overloading is mixed loading where vehicles are loaded with goods and human beings or human beings and animals, especially on trucks. In most cases, when crashes occur, it is fatal, serious injury, or death. So we are focused on that. Another trend that I have also noticed is the tanker crash. The volume of trucks, tanks and tankers moving from one place to another daily is almost 6,000 on average. We do not need to call a tanker crash an incessant one because of the numbers that move around daily, and the crashes could occur once a month or sometimes in a quarter. However, where we express worry or concern is the lives that are lost due to the secondary factor (people coming to scoop fuel) which is usually fatal. But then, we are involving all relevant stakeholders to address most of the factors responsible for such crashes and probably be able to reduce such crashes to a minimum. We realised that 98 per cent of petroleum products are being transported by roads, unlike in other climes, where it is being transported either by pipe or by rail which is an issue.
Some highways, particularly the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, have become notorious for accidents. What measures are being taken to address high-risk or accident-prone zones?