Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi has announced that enforcement of speed limiters on commercial vehicles operating in the country would commence nationwide on October 1 this year, saying it would be total and non-compromising.
He stated this yesterday during a stakeholders meeting held at the FRSC national headquarters in Abuja with stakeholders from relevant government agencies and road transport unions in attendance.
According to head of Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, the Corps Marshal in his address commended all the stakeholders for the consistent support they had given to the policy of speed limiters usage in the country, noting that without such support it would have been difficult for the country to get to where it is today, where enforcement date would no longer be controversial.
He particularly commended the leadership of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, for their technical inputs into the policy, saying that it was such collaboration that enhanced the decision of other stakeholders to adopt the policy.
Oyeyemi recalled that the initial date set for the commencement of enforcement of the law was June 1, 2015, stating that the date had to be extended to allow for further consultation and more public enlightenment programmes, especially that the period fell within the same week that the present administration was inaugurated.
He added that when the corps made presentation to President Muhamadu Buhari and suggested September 1, 2015, as the new commencement date, the president in his magnanimity extended the date to April 1, this year.
He further noted that in the process of commencing the enforcement on the set date by Mr President, a motion was passed on the floors of the two chambers of the National Assembly suspending the enforcement pending when a public hearing was conducted by the House Committee on the FRSC to determine the desirability of the policy.
The Corps Marshal announced that with the House’s approval of the policy based on public acceptance during the public hearing and its consideration of the relevance of the device in the campaign against speed-related road carnage in the country, it unanimously lifted the suspension order upon which the president gave a new enforcement date October 1, 2016.
He called on stakeholders to take the new date with all seriousness and ensure that their members, especially commercial operators, abide by the regulations by ensuring that their vehicles were installed with the devices before the commencement of enforcement to avoid sanctions.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, which has oversight powers over the FRSC, Senator Tijani Kaura applauded the FRSC for introducing the speed limiter device in the country, saying it demonstrated the vision and proactive ability of the leadership of the corps on traffic management in the country, bearing in mind the rate of speed related crashes.
Also speaking at the occasion, the chairman of the House Committee on FRSC, Honourable Abubakar Ahmed Yunusa represented by his deputy, Honourable Gideon Bulus, commended the leadership of the FRSC for its commitment to road safety campaign in the country.
He pledged the support of the House of Representatives, especially the Committee on the FRSC, for the success of the policy, noting that the rationale behind organising the public hearing as ordered by the National Assembly was to enable members of the public express their views before a decision was taken.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, who was represented by Tahir Mohammed Lawan, also commended the Corps Marshal for the efforts being made by the FRSC to create public awareness on issues of road safety.
He called on members of the public to embrace the policy in the interest of road users and pledged the support of the office of the SGF to render necessary support towards the success of the implementation of the policy.
Among stakeholders in attendance were representatives of the Office of National Security Adviser, ONSA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, and Department of State Services, DSS.
Others were Association of Speed Limiters of Nigeria, ASLON, PTD-NUPENG, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, and National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO.
No comments:
Post a Comment