By Udeme Clement

The transport sector of Nigeria’s economy is poised for greater productivity in 2015, as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Zone 2, is mapping out new operational measures and enforcement strategies to achieve 20 percent reduction in road traffic crashes and 30 per cent fatality. The Zone is working in line with the policy of the Federal Government to enhance efficiency in the sector, with a view to achieving the much expected Vision 20:2020 target.

The Zonal Commanding Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal, Nseobong Akpabio, speaks on the structures being put in place to boost operational efficiency, how Nigeria can realise the Vision of being ranked among top 20 economies in the world, the enforcement of speed limiters in all commercial vehicles starting by June 1, 2015 and the award of best Road Safety Organisation in Africa, bestowed on FRSC. 

You were the Zonal Commanding Officer of Zone 5 head quarters in Benin, and now you are in Lagos, as the Zonal Commanding Officer, How would you describe the two Zones?

To begin with, I was in Lagos
State as a Sector
Commander between May 2012 and September 2013. On my promotion from the rank of Corps Commander to Assistant Corps Marshal, I was posted out to Zone 5 head quarters, and was appointed the Zonal Commanding Officer. I resumed in Benin on September 4th, 2013. Zone 5 covers Edo, Delta and Anambra States and it carries the largest portion of vehicular traffic. This is because as you are leaving Ondo State after Ore, you are on our corridor, from Ore to Benin, from Benin to Asaba, from Asaba to Onitsha, where you branch off to Awka or Ihiala, then to Owerri.  I spent one year and seven months in Zone 5.

Can you tell us precisely the performance level of Zone 5 head quarters and the structures you met on ground when you took over?

When I resumed in Zone 5, the operational activities and programmes were low. Infact, Zone 5 in terms of performance on national scale was number five in the country, which is 5th position in the annual assessment. Based on that, I decided to make a turn around as we have been doing to enhance operational activities in the area. I held series of meetings with relevant stakeholders and reviewed the entire operational framework in the Zone with the staff. We found out that the Ore-Benin, Benin-Asaba, Benin-Auchi-Okene as well as Onitsha-Ihiala-Owerri  were the four major corridors that road traffic crashes occurred frequently. The highest among the corridors was Benin-Asaba. To tackle the situation, we commenced what we called Special Intervention Patrol on Benin-Asaba corridor, and immediately moved our patrol teams from the hinter-land to be on that corridor daily. We further increased our patrol frequency on that road, and our personnel who were in the other unit Command were moved to join the patrol teams on that corridor. So, on daily basis from Benin to Asaba, we had nothing less than 10 patrol teams in the morning and afternoon covering the whole area.

Aside from that, our Special Marshals and the volunteers were also involved. So, apart from seeing the coloured patrol vehicles being on the roads, there were so many un-marked vehicles on patrol on the same road by our Special Marshals. We set up sufficient monitoring to ensure that our teams were always on the roads. With that, we recorded reduction of road traffic crashes because of the increased level of enforcement on that corridor, as no driver violating road safety was left un-punished. Our enforcement was strict because the moment we caught any offender, we issued him ticket. We had mobile courts were offenders were tried, as we worked with the Judiciary in the State to prosecute offenders. We enforced sanctions because human lives were involved.

So, we recorded a downward reduction in road traffic crashes, even places where the were incessant cases of crashes almost everyday, such locations could stay two weeks without a single crash, due to the increased level of enforcement on that corridor. After the success in Benin-Asaba corridor, we looked at another corridor that had the same characteristics in road traffic crashes and we discovered that it was Onitsha-Owerri corridor. So, we immediately commenced the second phase of Special Intervention Patrol on Onitsha-Ihiala-Owerri corridor. We carried out the same kind of monitoring and enforcement on the two corridors. We also embarked on inter-special patrols on other corridors, where we did not have enough personnel. As we progressed, we discovered a gap between Benin and Agbor, so with that, we recommended to the head quarters the urgent need to have a unit Command at a place called Abudu community, which is between Benin and Agbor. Right now, we have a functional unit Command there checking drivers from that corridor along with others. We also increased awareness campaigns by going to motor parks, churches, mosques, communities, schools and other places to enlighten people on road safety measures.

What do you mean by a gap between Benin and Agbor?

The distance in patrol frequency between Benin and Agbor was far. For instance, if you are driving from Benin to be at the boundary of Delta and Edo, it takes over 40kilo-meters. So, because of that, a patrol team leaving Benin may not arrive there on time, and if there is a crash, someone may not survive. Therefore, to breach that gap, we created the new unit Command, which is nearer to Agbor to take charge of that area in a bid to prevent loss of lives in any crash. The Corps Marshal approved the establishment of that unit Command at Abudu, which is currently operational. Now, if there is a crash, in five minutes our team would be there. Infact, if there is a crash from any side of the corridors our team is readily available to rescue the victims because the response time is faster with the new unit Command.

So, with increased awareness and stakeholders’ contributions we worked in synergy with other law enforcement agencies like the Police, Army, SSS, Civil Defence, members of local communities and volunteers as well. We had a post crash scheme where members of the communities were trained to rescue victims of road crashes when road safety Officers and other law enforcement agencies were not insight that particular moment. We gave out our emergency number, 122 for them to call us any time.

That was not limited to Benin-Asaba corridor, the same synergy and increased enforcement were replicated in all corridors of Zone 5 head quarters. The local communities supported us a lot. In a community called Uromi within Edo State, a stakeholder is now building an office for FRSC, which is a good contribution to the service. The road that passes through Auchi, Uromi to Agbor is also a busy place where people travel to Abuja. So, he said it would be important for us to be on that road. You can see the level of collaboration, even our Special Marshals contributed to repay our patrol vehicles among other supports.

So, the Zone moved from number 5 position progressively with sustained awareness, operational efficiency and enforcement to number 1 position in the country right now.  Zone 5 won the best Zonal Command Award in 2014, and with all sense of humility, I was honoured with the award of the best Zonal Commanding Officer in 2014, and accumulatively from 2012, 2013 and 2014. I was given a trophy at the national headquarters, which I handed over to my staff. My staff worked tirelessly and they understood exactly what we wanted to achieve. I dedicate the achievement, award and trophy to my staff, the Special Marshals, stakeholders, members of the communities and our volunteers because I did not do the work alone, but the ultimate glory goes to Jehovah God. I commend the media houses all over the country for giving us tremendous support through out my tenure as the Zonal Commanding Officer of Zone 5. The media did well in informing the public on how to avoid road traffic crashes.

How would you bring your experience, operational efficiency and enforcement strategies to bear in a place like Lagos where you have a large population?

Zone 2 covers Lagos and Ogun States. It occupies a strategic position in the country not only in road safety but in economic activities.  Lagos and Ogun handle the bulk of economic activities in Nigeria. Lagos alone takes about 27 percent vehicular traffic in the country. Lagos is like a country and has a large population that is more than some African countries. So, for someone to be here means he must deliver service. My strategy is to work with everybody including the Special Marshals, regular Marshals, the media, both print and electronic, land transport sector operators, schools and all relevant stakeholders because every living person has business to do with the roads. Therefore, we need the best road safety in Zone 2. We do not want people to go and die on the roads, even on avoidable crashes. So, we need the public to understand this and give us maximum cooperation. We would collaborate with our sister agencies like we did in Zone 5.

Now we are reviewing operational activities in Zone 2 and would soon put in place strategic measures to restore sanity on the roads. We cannot do this alone without the support of road users. We want to raise our enforcement to a very high level. Already, I have told the Commanding Officers to be ready for maximum enforcement, because from the experience all over the world, once there is increase in road traffic safety enforcement, there is a corresponding decrease in road crashes. The Corps Marshal gave us the mandate to reduce road crashes this year by 20 percent and 30 percent fatality, and we must achieve this target and beyond.

We would increase our operational capacity and training for Officers. We must also increase our enforcement across all the Commands within Zone 2. Aside from creating awareness, we want the media to fully understand the concept of our operations on road safety. For instance, if a Journalist sees a crash, while reporting, he should be able to distinguish whether it is fatal, serious or minor. It is possible to have a serious crash because many people are injured, but no one dies, so, it is not fatal. If someone is injured, it is a serious crash, but if no body is injured, no matter the damage done to the vehicle,  it is a minor crash. We want the media to understand this, so that when they inform the public, their reports would be factual and not just what people want to hear.

We also want to work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in road safety business, land transport operators, owners of public buses, among many others. A bulk of the travellers pass through the roads and this requires high road safety awareness and enforcement. If buses are loading out of the motor parks, their tyres and vehicles should be in good condition to prevent crashes. Road worthiness of vehicles is very important and a road safety officer must not be by any driver for him to know that. We want to also work with the industrial sector players to see areas they can support us because if they are producing goods and nobody buys, it becomes a problem, as only the living can patronise them. We are already working with NYSC road safety club members who are volunteers. We want them to create awareness in market places, motor parks and remote areas across Zone 2. Everyone has a role to play in road safety because road accident does not have respect for anybody, age, status and social class. No individual has immunity for road traffic crashes.

Speed limiter was introduced in  2014. What is  the role of this in road safety management?

From our research findings almost 75 percent of fatal crashes that occurred last year, up till 2015 were attributed to speed limit violation. The commercial vehicles carry the bulk of the travelling public and we must check the speed limit of these drivers, because once they are involved in a crash, we record mass casualties. In order to restrain them, government introduced the use of speed limiters to be installed in all commercial vehicles. The enforcement would start by June 1, 2015 and must be total, as commercial vehicles would not be allowed to move on the roads without speed limiters. So, we have more than six months for enlightenment.

How would you assess the transport sector of the economy under President Goodluck Jonathan?

We are seeing tremendous improvement in the land transport sub-sector because we cannot talk about land transportation without the roads. Before now, it took about 8 to 9 hours to travel from Lagos to Benin through Shagamu road. Today, in four hours you are in Lagos from Benin. That is a serious improvement.Road construction as well as rehabilitation is not limited to Lagos-Benin road, but extended to other roads across the country. So, the President has done very well on that and I give him kudos. If we can sustain it, in few years to come, Nigeria would be one of the best countries in the world. That way, we can achieve the Vision 20:2020 target of being ranked among the top economies in the world.

With the challenges facing the economy in terms of declining oil prices, devaluation of Naira and huge investments outflow from the country, do you think Vision 20:2020 is still realisable?

We can achieve Vision 20:2020 with sustainability in economic growth and development. If I take the transport sector to analyse, you see that aside from the federal, sub-national governments are also building roads across the country. There is a remarkable improvement on land transport sub-sector now compared to what we had before, which is part of government’s effort to achieve the Vision. There is what is called multiplier concept in an economy. If the roads are good to facilitate movement of people and goods, it would add value to the entire system, such that the multiplier effect would be seen in manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

Aside from land transport, there is great improvement in the rail transport system now, because today people live in Osogbo and come to work in Lagos by rail. If the rail system is sustained, most tankers and trucks moving on our roads and causing crashes would go through rail. That way, we would have less number of vehicles on the roads, meaning, less road crashes as well.  Rail would also fast track delivery of products, equipment cheaper than hiring trucks and spending days on the road to convey these items to various places.

The aviation sector, which takes charge of air transportation, is recording remarkable improvement now as most airports across Nigeria have been remodelled to meet international standard. The improved infrastructure and safety measures in aviation led to government retaining the Category-One status, which is an international recognition for Nigeria. The current Minister of aviation is working tirelessly to ensure safety in aviation sector. Everything is so modernised that, today you can stay in your office and book a flight to anywhere within and outside Nigeria, but continuity and sustainability must be paramount.

FRSC won the award as the Best Road Safety Organisation in Africa. How do you see FRSC in the next five years?

The FRSC is the lead agency in road traffic management and administration in Nigeria and among the best road safety organisations in the world. FRSC won the Prince Michael ward as the Best Road Safety Organisation in Africa, which I can describe as an honour well deserved. That was not all, FRSC also won the ISO certification, being the first ever African law enforcement agency to be certified by ISO, an lnternational certification standard. Our programmes are certified because we work in conformity with international best practice. Today FRSC has become a reference point in Nigeria and the whole African region.

Fortunately, Mr. President gave us internal Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, in the person of Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi,  someone from within us, who is not alien to the operational strategies and workings of our enforcement standards. He is efficient because he has been in the system from the beginning and knows everything required to move FRSC forward. So, we are in safe hands with the present Corps Marshal. He has never failed in  all the departments and Zones he worked. I have understudied him   to know his principles and leadership skills in moving an organisation forward.

When you look at government’s initiative to establish FRSC in 1988, it is as if government had foresight about what the United Nations (UN) wanted to do. In 2010, the UN decided that every member country must establish a government lead agency in road traffic management and administration, to handle the issues of road safety in their countries. The UN’s decision was based on the number of road crashes all over the world estimated at 1.3million annually. Instead of allowing such incessant road crashes, which may eventually increase to about 5million by 2020, the UN made that declaration. To that effect, the UN launched what is called, United Nations Decade of  Action for Road Safety, 2011 to 2020. That Decade of Action is to enable all member countries to set the machinery to reduce road traffic crashes by 50 percent in 2020. Meaning that whatever data you had before 2011, by 2020 you must achieve 50 per cent reduction in road crashes.

To achieve that target, you must have a lead agency, a functional post crash scheme and other measures, such that, if there is a crash, someone must survive. This implies that you must have necessary equipment, ambulance services, good roads and create road users awareness. Then the driver license came up to meet international best practice, which what we are doing in Nigeria. Others include vehicles licensing, vehicles safety standard, which means limiting the number of aged vehicles coming into the country, improving more on local manufacturing to meet international standard. In all of these, there must be high level of enforcement to ensure compliance.

What is your motivating factor?

I usually study achievers within and outside Nigeria to know how they achieve positive results. For instance, our Corps Marshal is someone I understudied. He has never failed in any area they assigned him to work. When he was Commanding Officer, he made positive impact at every department and Zone he worked. I also picked on the late President of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, who was highly respected as  the founding father of modern Singapore. I studied his persuasiveness and the principles that made him to succeed in turning around Singapore, a country that was no where in the 50s to be number one in the world today. I admire the courage of President Jonathan. I also admire personalities like the governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola and governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, among other achievers. I believe in hard work, so, I do not like associating with individuals who do not want to work.

What sanctions do you give to erring officers in your Zone?

We do not yoke with violation of service standards. As such, we apply maximum sanctions according to the laws for any officer who works against the roles. We work like medical personnel because human lives are involved in our operations, and any mistake can affect innocent lives. At the same time, we recognise and reward hard work and commitment to statutory responsibility.