When the Federal Government of Nigeria established the
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on 18th February, 1988, it was generally
seen as the culmination of all past efforts to address the growing menace of
road traffic crashes in the country which put Nigeria road as the most
dangerous to drive vehicles on, second only to Ethiopia. The responsibility of
bringing down the rate and fatalities of the crashes fell on the founding
fathers of the organisation who had earlier proved their mettle in road crash
management campaigns through private initiatives.
With the Nobel Laurette, Professor Wole Soyinka as the
founding Chairman of the Commission working in tandem with Dr Olu Agunloye who
was the pioneer Corps Marshal of the FRSC, the foundation of a modern
organisation built on the ideals of knowledge, service delivery and technology
was solidly laid. The coming of the FRSC with its young men and women bubbling
with youthful idealism and armed with various degrees and certificates as the
pioneer Marshals took Nigerians by surprise, with their calm mien in public
enlightenment programmes, aggressiveness in traffic law enforcement and
efficiency in rescue operations which saw them earning instant respect from the
generality of Nigerians and giving legitimacy to the new outfit.
After 32 years of its corporate existence and producing six
Corps Marshals, including those that served briefly in Acting positions who
continued to sustain the modernisation process of the Corps, the mantle of
leadership fell on Dr Boboye Oyeyemi on 24th July 2014 with his inauguration as
the first insider that was appointed into the exalted position. In carrying out
this onerous national assignment, Oyeyemi has never looked back in addressing
any intractable challenge that could have defied past efforts, having
distinguished himself as someone that saw the organisation from its very beginning.
One area that his impact on sustaining the vision of the
FRSC as a distinct law environment agency and a lead agency in traffic
management and safety administration in Nigeria has remain focused is the area
of anti corruption campaign which aligns fully with the philosophy of the
present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. In playing its
historical role as a model organisation that has been supportive of the
socioeconomic goals of the federal government, FRSC under Corps Marshal Boboye
Oyeyemi enthusiastically embraced the anti corruption posture of the
government and has continued to lend supportive hands to the campaign.
As many stakeholders pointed out recently, FRSC's
demonstration of anti corruption agenda has been evidenced right from the
organisation's conceptual framework as evident from the institutionalisation of
its operational and administrative structures to make service delivery the
cornerstone of its ethics. Thus, many questions of corruption and corrupt
practices were already answered by the Corps through its diligent
administrative and operational mechanisms before they could even become
manifest. In his commitment to the success of anti corruption campaign in the
FRSC, Oyeyemi ensures that the commands are run efficiently on budgeted
allocations which are paid as regularly as the financial releases are made by
the federal government to avoid a situation where the commanding officers and
patrol teams could be tempted to compromise their responsibilities by resorting
to illegal sources of funding their operations.
Through this mechanism, commanding officers are sure of
finances to routinely carryout repairs of their operational vehicles and other
administrative costs without resort to self-help that could compromise them.
Consequently, any operational staff that is found to have compromised the trust
of the Corps while on patrol or other official assignments by indulging in
bribe taking are not only diligently tried in accordance with the FRSC
disciplinary codes, but netted out with the strictest punishment to serve as
deterrence to others.
Furthermore, while the law clearly spelt out the amount of
fines to be paid by traffic violators as published on the Notices of Offence,
Management under Oyeyemi has ensured that the process of effecting such
payments are clearly explained to members of the public through regular public
enlightenment programmes. Accordingly, whoever goes out of his way to abuse the
process by collecting cash from the offenders on the road or in the offices in
lieu of the stated procedures are made to pay dearly through appropriate trials
and punishments.
In the same vein, though FRSC designs and produces the
National Driver's Licence and number plates, it does not involve itself or the
staff in the direct dealing with members of the public who use the documents.
Rather, it deals directly with the state government through their agencies such
as Vehicle Inspection Officers and State Boards of Internal Revenue under the
tripartite arrangement. That's why Management under Oyeyemi has ensured that
the information on the process for acquiring the documents are pasted at
strategic locations in the FRSC offices to guide the licence applicants.
In addition, in the deliberate efforts to upgrade the
monitoring system of the Corps for efficient outcomes, the Oyeyemi-led
Management recently partnered with relevant anti corruption agencies like ICPC
and DSS to embark on sting operations where arrested personnel across the
country are being tried under the FRSC Disciplinary Panels. And in further
demonstrating its commitment to corruption- free society which aligns with the
philosophy of the present administration, Oyeyemi-led Management went into
partnership with an NGO known as Akin-Fadeyi Foundation to launch an anti
corruption App by which victims of corruption from members of the Corps can
immediately activate and send report of the transactions to the FRSC
Headquarters for immediate remedial action.
In furtherance of its policy on transparency, the present
Management of Corps Marshal Oyeyemi last year established the National Traffic
Radio (NTR) to provide ample opportunity for members of the public to not only
get information on traffic updates and road conditions across the country, but
report any negative encounter with members of the Corps including demand for
bribes directly to the studios. The traffic radio which has been in
operation is providing direct access to members of the public through various
communication tools for unhindered fight against impunity and corruption among
the FRSC personnel and other incidents.
As some keen observers of FRSC and players in the fight
against corruption have rightly observed, regardless of whatever negative
practices that some few bad eggs in the Corps may indulge themselves in to
tarnish the hard earned image of the organisation which have no institutional
backing for such operational misconduct, Management under Oyeyemi has no doubt
been very committed to addressing such
ills in the Corps through its aggressive pursuit of anti corruption programmes
and more public support could lead to the realisation of the overall success.
We therefore call on every Nigerian of goodwill as well as
international partners to see the campaigns for safer road environment and a
nation free of corruption as shared responsibilities for which they should all
remain committed through robust use of the platforms the FRSC has provided. As
Corps Marshal Oyeyemi has continued to restate in his statements, "FRSC is
a public trust and its commitment to protecting public interests through
transparency programmes would continue to be vigorously pursued by the
Management."
Assistant Corps Marshal Bisi Kazeem, fsi, is the Corps
Public Education Officer.
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