Exactly three years ago, the Federal Government of
Nigeria appointed the then Head of Motor Vehicle Administration of the Federal
Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Olayemi Oyeyemi to head the nation’s road
safety lead agency. The choice of this hardworking, committed and dogged
Nigerian was not by accident, but a reaffirmation that FRSC had come of age and
gotten to a level where a capable insider could be trusted with the
responsibility of taking the Corps to greater heights.
Oyeyemi who was one of the pioneer officers of the
Corps had prior to the appointment distinguished himself as one that was
prepared for leadership challenges, having exhibited excellence in all his
assignments as Zonal Commanding Officer and Head of the departments he
supervised. His appointment was therefore, aimed at sustaining the ideals of
road safety lead agency model, which Nigeria pioneered in Africa in 1988 with
the establishment of the FRSC by the Federal Government.
As some analysts rightly observed recently, after his
three years of hard work, determination and focused leadership to sustain the
goodwill earned by the Corps over the years, the consensus among government
officials, majority of road safety stakeholders and staff of the Corps is that,
there couldn’t have been a better choice. This they insisted was due to the
fact that as someone who witnessed the beginning of the Corps and participated
actively in its growth and development over the years, he was eminently qualified
to take up the leadership challenges of the Corps.
And looking back into the three years of his
stewardship, their conclusion was that, by his focused leadership styles,
commitment to service delivery and determination to succeed, the confidence
reposed in him by the government was not misplaced
Setting the stage for what he described as “the new
dawn in the FRSC,” Oyeyemi addressed the enthusiastic staff of the Corps in his
maiden parade, after his decoration, assuring them that he was prepared for the
tasks ahead. According to him, the main thrusts of his Management agenda were
Consultation, Reward and Punishment (CRP) which were to holistically address
the challenges of restoration and sustenance of public confidence in the Corps.
“While we would consult widely for inputs from staff at all levels and relevant
stakeholders into our policies and programmes for incremental results, we would
promptly reward excellent performances and not hesitate to punish those staff
that remain undisciplined and tended towards indolence,” he stated.,
To this end, he commenced his tour of the FRSC
Commands across the country to take his message of reform agenda to the staff
and relevant stakeholders in the states including the Governors and traditional
rulers. So far, he had undertaken tour of unprecedented number of Commands
across the country comparable to any such endeavours before him. And wherever
he went, he created time to interact with staff and principal officers in a
town hall meeting fashion, devoid of strict official protocol to allow for free
expression of views bys the staff.
Noticeably, some of such visits had attracted high
emotions and jubilation from among the host staff, most of who exhibited strong
feelings of elation. As the scenario in Tsafe Unit Command in Zamfara state
last year indicated, the staff were so emotional about the visit that the Unit
Commander literary shed tears while welcoming the Corps Marshal, saying he was
overwhelmed by the experience of being the first Unit Commander of the Command
to ever have the privilege of hosting a visiting Corps Marshal.
According to him, when he was earlier assured by the
Corps Marshal during the Commanding Officers’ Retreat earlier held at the FRSC
Academy Udi that he would soon visit his Command as part of his tour of the
Northwest geopolitical zone of the country, he did not realise that the promise
could be so soon fulfilled. “Today is a historic day for all of us in this
Command as we are witnessing the first visit of a Corps Marshal to this unit
since its creation,” he stated, while addressing the Corps Marshal before
staff.
The Corps Marshal would use such visits to update the
staff of the developments at the National Headquarters and got feedback that were
used as inputs for subsequent policy formulation. Meanwhile, he has continued
to honour invitations to meetings and programmes organised by stakeholders,
where he would make presentations and deliver Goodwill messages as the case may
be, in addition to the regular consultative forums organised by the Corps to
constantly brief them on contemporary road safety challenges of the country.
As one that was well known for his rugged operational
background, Oyeyemi would ensure that no policy on enforcement commences in the
Corps without adequate involvement of the relevant stakeholders, to ensure
their buying in. Such was the case with the enforcement of use of speed
limiting device in commercial vehicles which took up to two years to commence
enforcement after the initial deadline given by the FRSC. The same thing
applies to the use of minimum safety standards and retraining/re-certification
of articulated drivers which were outcomes of the National Conference on Safety
of haulage operations in Nigeria organised by the FRSC in the aftermath of the
tanker/trailer crash epidemics across the country in 2015.
Thus from the leaderships of the National Union of
Road Transport Workers (NUTW); Road Transport Owners Association of Nigeria
(RTEAN) and Petroleum Tanker Drivers Division of the National Union of
Petroleum and Gas (NUPENG-PTD) and other strategic transport unions in the
country, his message of collective action against the menace of road traffic
crashes continued to reverberate. He ensures that relevant government agencies
as well as private sector organisations concerned with issues of road safety
are not left out in the Corps’ joint efforts to contain the menace of road
traffic crashes.
As an observer noted recently, it did not surprise
most discernible followers of the FRSC’s activities, when the National Economic
Council (NEC) gave instant approval to the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy
Document that had been pending and subsequent inauguration of the National Road
Safety Advisory Council (NaRSAC) by the Acting President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo early this year. Today, despite the overzealousness of some road users
and members of the public who display acts of violence against members of the
Corps, majority of Nigerians now see FRSC as a veritable partner in the
campaign for safety of the nation’s roads and the success of road transport
industry in the country.
In the push for his reward mantra, FRSC Management
under Oyeyemi’s leadership has in the past three years evolved policies and
programmes aimed at engaging staff in the activities capable of enhancing their
productivity and improved service delivery. Consequently, no year has passed
since the past three years without a promotion exercise taking place in the
Corps to reward hard working and committed staff and boost their morale. “In
our commitment to addressing issues of backlog of promotion, Management has
resolved that yearly promotion exercise shall henceforth be held in the Corps,”
he assured staff on regular promotion exercise.
Furthermore, FRSC Management under him has, in the
past three years continued to evolve policies aimed at addressing fear of
career stagnation by some staff of the Corps. Thus apart from removing the
barriers that limit the prospects of career growth for certain category of officers,
the FRSC Management recently removed the obstacles against the convertibility
of qualified personnel on the rank of Road Marshals Assistant to Officers
Cadre. In the same vein, convertible year for personnel with requisite
educational qualifications has been extended and more is being done to allow
for greater number of beneficiaries.
On staff capacity development, the Corps Marshal has
entered into partnership agreements with relevant institutions with a view to
creating training opportunities for staff of all cadres at home and abroad as
is being done today by the World Bank. In addition, the Corps’ quota at the
Military and Security institutions in the country including that of the
National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Jos and National
Defence College for the senior officers of the Corps continue to be expanded to
provide more opportunities for senior officers.
Concerned with the plight which most staff who retire
without safety nets suffer after their service years, Oyeyemi-led Management
promptly implemented policies on Post Service Scheme (PSS) and staff Housing
Scheme to provide opportunity of house ownership to staff while still in
service. In the same vein, FRSC Cooperative Scheme has been strengthened to
provide easy access to loanable funds for staff in need. Furthermore,
Management has adopted measures to incorporate FRSC Housing Scheme to the
Federal Government Integrated Housing Scheme (FISH), which is a programme of
the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to create opportunity
of house ownership for federal civil servants service-wide.
In the area of improved service delivery, the reform
minded Corps Marshal has put in place concrete policies and measures that could
sustain the world class status of the FRSC and its adherence to global best
practice in road safety management. For instance, under him, the coveted
Quality Management System Certification (ISO 9001:2008) which the FRSC earned
in 2013 was revalidated last year as a demonstration of the sustainability of
the policy. Meanwhile, the process for obtaining services from the FRSC, such
as procedures for obtaining the driver’s licence and how to secure the services
of the service providers in the speed limiting device policy have been
published to enlighten members of the public.
Accordingly, SERVICOM and
Anti-corruption Unit of the FRSC established to tackle complaints against poor
service delivery by members of the public have been strengthened to make them
more responsive to public demands.
There is no wonder the consensus of some analysts who
reviewed the last three years of the FRSC under Oyeyemi Management recently,
were that it has been work and more work since the past three years despite the
social and economic challenges facing the nation under which the FRSC operates.
But as they further agreed, the consolation is that, the Federal Government has
remained supportive of the Corps’ programmes through provision of logistics and
morale supports to the organisation. For instance, they observed that despite
the hard economic situation facing the country, President Buhari graciously
approved the provision of over 280 patrol vehicles, tow trucks and ambulances
boost the operational fleet of the Corps last year.
In addition, they contended that there have been
various legislative supports from the National Assembly to demonstrate members’
solidarity with the workings of the FRSC through appropriate legislations,
Motions and public hearings to make the nation’s traffic environment more
conducive and safe for members of the motoring public.
As Corps Marshal Oyeyemi marks his third years in
office and refocus on the successes of his past reform programmes, it is the
consensus of majority of road safety stakeholders and road users alike that
going forward, emphases should be on consolidating the gains of the past
initiatives. This according to them will facilitate the alignment of the FRSC’s
strategic corporate goals with the national agenda aimed at launching Nigeria
to become one of the 20 largest economies in the world with the safest roads by
2020.
The Corps Marshal re-echoed the optimism himself, while addressing
Commanding Officers at the last Management Strategy Session, that ensuing safer
road environment in Nigeria is a shared responsibility which involves all
citizens and stakeholders in public and private sectors for harmonious work
that could keep the nation’s roads safer.
Congratulations to all members of the FRSC Management
and staff on the successes of the third anniversary celebration of an internal
leadership sourced from within the Officers of the FRSC.
Superintendent Route Commander Sani Abdullahi is the
Media Assistant to the Corps Marshal of FRSC.
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