By Ibironke Ariyo
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Malam Shehu Mohammed has said that Africa must prioritise robust road safety measures to protect lives and property.
Mohammed said this at the 1st Congress of the African Union of Transport and Logistics Organisations on Tuesday in Tangier, Kingdom of Morocco.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that In recognition of the critical roles played by FRSC in West African sub region in road safety management, the Corps Marshal was honored as the leader of Nigeria delegation with an award.
NAN reports that the award was presented by the President of the Africa Union of Transport and Logistics Organisation Mr. Mustapha Chaoune during the opening ceremony.
The FRSC boss emphasised the continent’s need for effective transportation infrastructure while urging African nations to make road safety top priority.
He said that the theme of the joint exhibition titled “Building Sustainable Logistics Chains for Africa’s Structural Transformation” was as timely as it was very relevant to the current global trend in urban transportation systems.
“We are all aware that for an effective transportation system, we need a workable transport infrastructure that is interconnected to provide a dynamic and sustainable safe mobility of persons and service.
“This is expected to unite and enhance collaboration between African countries and foster better regional integration, especially in the area of road transport safety.
“I must therefore commend the vision behind the 1st Congress of African Union of Transport and Logistics Organisation.
“Permit me to also mention that the choice of the theme for the 1st International Exhibition on Mobility, Transport and Logistics seeks to address the challenges of Africa’s infrastructural transformation through sustainable supply chains.
“Apparently, Africa has admitted that road transport sub-sector remains the major channel for the mobility of goods and services. However, one of the major logistic challenges of the road transportation system in Africa is road safety.
“This is because road crashes have been a recurring decimal on African roads with high human causalities and unquantifiable destruction of goods and services,”he said.
The corps marshal said that against the alarming percentage of fatalities and injuries resulting from road crashes in Africa, the UN General Assembly passed a regulation for African countries to develop a national road safety development plan.
Mohammed added that in line with that perspective, Nigeria developed the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) document.
“The NRSS is a national blue print expected to galvanise both Government road Private Sector as critical stakeholders to ensure that road crash related deaths and injuries are reduced by 5 per cent by the end of the year 2030.
“Furthermore, the FRSC initiated and developed measures to ensure the safety of persons, goods and services plying the highways.
“The road safety programmes were anchored on two policy thrusts; public awareness component of the road safety, and the enforcement of traffic laws and regulations.
“From the history of our road safety awareness campaign, it is clear that the enforcement of road traffic regulations is a major logistic component in road transportation.
“No doubt, enforcement of road traffic laws and penalizing traffic offenders remains a major deterring factor. This has improved safety in the road transportation system,”he added.
Speaking further, the FRSC Corps Marshal said that Nigeria also acceded to the United Nations Road Safety Convention in furtherance of the need to strengthen road safety as a key logistic component on the road transport sub-sector.
According to him, subsequently, FRSC domesticated the core road safety related legal instruments.
“Therefore, in our deliberations during this congress, we should consider the following legal instruments as key logistics components that must be regulated and enforced for a sustainable Africa’s structural transformation, especially, in road transportation
“This includes Traffic Rules, Road Signs, Vehicle Regulations, Transport of Dangerous Goods; and Professional Driver Fatigue among others
The corps marshal who was the head of the delegation said that Nigeria was also a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund.
He added that the UN Road Safety Trust Fund was conceived as a deliberate effort to bridge the gaps in road transportation by improving safety as a logistic component in road transport sub-sector.
“Furtherance to that objective, FRSC is also proposing a dedicated road safety fund (RSF).
“If this is achieved, it will foster the integration of road safety into project planning; including safety assessments, designs and implementation, thus, improving safety in the road transportation sub-sector,”he said.
Mohammed assured that in the course of the Congress, discussions would further revealed possibilities and opportunities for Africa to collaborate and develop a cost effective integrated transport logistics.
This, he also assured would promote economic growth and improve Africa’s socio-cultural integration.
“We must also consider road safety as a major logistics component of road transportation in order to secure the human lives and property on our roads,”he maintained.
Other representatives from the African countries pledged thier support road safety and assured priority would be placed on safety of lives and property.
NAN reports that 37 African Countries were present for the Congress which are Morocco, the host, South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, Benn, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cote d’ivoire, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso,
Others are Mozambique, the Gambia, Niger, Zambia, Gabon, Central African Republic, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda among others.
