FRSC trains officers on safer road
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in partnership with Dutch Embassy Tuesday commenced a strategic training for its officers on safer roads for cyclists, pedestrians and other Non-Motorized Transportation (NMT) in line with its 2017 strategic work plan especially with the revelation by the World Health Organisation that pedestrians form about 39percent of road fatalities in Africa.
Declaring the one week training open at the FRSC Headquarters in Abuja, the Corps Marshal Dr, BoboyeOyeyemi stated that the one week programme will improve the knowledge of the officers in the rights of non-motorized road users with a view to enhance the safety on the roads along with other users.
The training was the second phase, part of the efforts being made to meet the goals of the United Nations Decade of Action For Road Safety: 2011-2020 which target reduction of road traffic crashes and fatalities by 50 percent by year 2020.
The Corps Marshal explained that the training started with a pre-training visit to Nigeria by the Dutch training provider who came to ascertain the exact training needs and inspect available infrastructure for non-motorised form of transportation in the country.
“This was done through visits to urban roads in Abuja, interaction with relevant stakeholders and studying reports of the past efforts to popularise the use of the system with a view to modifying the training curriculum to suit the local need,” he stated.
Oyeyemi disclosed that FRSC had for several years been at the forefront of campaign for cycling in Nigeria as part of its advocacy programmes and has developed documents, built collaborations and initiated various programme of activities including the National Bicycle Week.
“The initiatives are geared towards increasing the share of cycling and improving safety and wellbeing of not only the cyclists, but other non-motorized users of roads in Nigeria,” he stated.
He noted that the programme was part of the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) funded by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Dutch Embassy in Nigeria sequel to a proposal made by the FRSC.
According to him, the purpose of the training was to improve the knowledge of the staff on non-motorized transportation system with a view to enhancing the Corps’ advocacy and expertise for safety of the users of the mode of transportation in the country.
The Corps Marshal called on the 15 participating staff to study the routes to schools in FCT for enhancement of safety of the children that walk or cycle; undergo group case studies and observe a day set aside as stakeholders’ engagement day to interact and draw from the Netherlands cycling and walking with Nigerian experience.
He appreciated the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for providing the platform and funding for the training and appealed for sustained support.
The representative of the Netherland Embassy in Nigeria, FemitayoAdebiyi commended the FRSC for utilizing the training opportunity provided by the Embassy for its officers.
She stated that the Embassy has been involved in such programme for its host countries for a very long time, assuring that it will continue to support the Corps in its future training programmes.
