In a press statement made available by Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, the Deputy Governor, said introducing road safety education in the educational curriculum of children at their young ages is strategic to the campaign for safer road environment in the country, saying as one of the most densely populated cities in the country with high concentration of vehicle population, the Kano state government takes issues of road safety serious. He therefore expressed the commitment of the state government to promoting road safety education among pupils in primary schools and students of secondary schools in the state, saying the action could strengthen the effort to catch them young and make the roads safer.
Professor Abubakar commended the Corps Marshal for considering Kano state as one of the centres in the country where this year’s mega rally would be hosted, pointing out that the state government will continue to partner with the FRSC in its efforts to bring sanity to the nation’s highways. He further noted that as part of the efforts being made by the state government to address the road traffic challenges of the state, the partnership proposals made by the Corps Marshal during his last visit to the Governor in August this year would be carefully studied for necessary action.
On the need to build the capacity of the personnel of the state traffic management agency for optimal results, the Deputy Governor expressed gratitude to the Corps Marshal for agreeing to train them at both the FRSC Academy Udi and the FRSC Training School Jos, for the officers and other ranks respectively, saying the state government views the decision as capable of consolidating on the road safety campaigns of the state.
“We are happy that you have decided to give due consideration to the strategic position of the state as one with high concentration of vehicle population and huge traffic management challenges.
“I assure you that we would look into the proposals you made on the partnership during your last visit to the Governor. But let me assure you that the issue of introducing road safety education in the education curriculum of our primary and secondary schools as approved by the National Council on Education would be looked into immediately,” he stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the Corps Marshal commended the Kano state government for its commitment to road safety campaign, describing the partnership between the FRSC and the state government as strategic to the realisation of the goals of the safer road campaign in the country. According to Oyeyemi, the choice of the state for the flag off of the second leg of the mega rally was informed by the importance the FRSC places on the state as one of the most densely populated in the country, noting that the Corps appreciates the state government for setting up the only driving school in the country for the training of truck drivers.
Oyeyemi, while applauding the initiative of the state government in setting up the school described it as a policy worthy of emulation by other state governments who should be encouraged to replicate same in their states in the collective campaign against road carnage especially the menace of tanker and trailer crashes. The Corps Marshal further revealed that as part of the collaborative efforts of the FRSC with the state government, plans have been completed to establish a Mini Embossing Machine for the production of motorcycle number plates in the state, saying with such facility, there would be no need for the government to travel to Abuja to procure number plates for motorcycles operating in the state, which he said is capable of drastically cases of number plate violation by the motorcycle operators.
Corps Marshal Oyeyemi is Kano state on advocacy visit and is expected to flag off the state chapter of the mega rally initiated this year by some strategic road safety stakeholders including National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers division of Petroleum Tanker drivers (NUPENG-PTD); Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Road Transport Owners Association of Nigeria (RTOAN) among others. He is also scheduled to pay an advocacy visit on the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi before embarking on the rally.
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