Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has assured the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC of the readiness of the state government to render necessary support in tackling the menace of road traffic crashes being caused by tankers/trailers to ensure safer road environment.
The governor gave the assurance Friday while receiving the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi at the Government House Kano.
While stressing the need for collective efforts against the menace of road carnage, Governor Ganduje stated that dealing with the menace of tanker and trailer crashes require commitment of all relevant stakeholders.
He said that being a state with high volume of trucks; he would work with the FRSC to implement the various policies and programmes enunciated to create safer road environment for haulage operations.
According to Ganduje, the state government is already demonstrating its commitment to road safety through its ongoing census to determine the number of trucks and operators in the state, stressing that obtaining such data would enhance the capacity of the state government to implement safety measures on them.
He further stated that as part of the measures, there are plans to construct weigh bridges to discourage overloading by such vehicles, adding that when fully operational, all such vehicles entering the state would be weighed at the bridges and those found to have overloaded their vehicles would be appropriately sanctioned.
“We are encouraged by your visit today, which provides another opportunity for us to partner on issues of road safety in the state,” he stated.
“After carefully listening to you, I am convinced that your proposal on effective traffic management in the state reflects the plans we are making to bring orderliness to the operations of haulage vehicles.
“I want to assure you that we would work with the FRSC to achieve the plans you have for ensuring safer road environment through various ways, part of which is construction of weighbridges.
“When completed, we would ensure that all haulage vehicles entering the state are weighed at the weighbridges to determine their loading capacities and appropriately sanction whoever overloads his vehicle,” he further stated.
While commending the FRSC for being part of the socio-economic development of the state, Ganduje expressed the readiness of the state government to establish more driver’s licence centres in the state, saying that so many people are driving vehicle without genuine driver’s licence.
This, he said, creates hazards to other road users and deprive the state government of revenue, adding that additional driver’s licence centres would be established across the state to create opportunity for applicants to obtain genuine licences after going through the process.
Ganduje assured that Kano state government will provide the necessary logistics to realize the various safety and security plans being worked on to make roads in the state safer.
Earlier in his presentation, Corps Marshal Oyeyemi identified Kano state as one of the most populous states with high traffic density comparable to such states like Lagos and Oyo, which require special safety measures to effectively manage the traffic situation, especially that of tankers and trailers.
According to him, FRSC is concerned with the rate and fatality of road traffic crashes involving haulage vehicles, stating that he has been working with relevant stakeholders to bring the situation under control.
The Corps Marshal further pointed out that as a state with high volume of haulage vehicles, Kano state government needs to take proactive measures to prevent road carnage, calling on the government to support its ongoing efforts to retrain and recertify tanker and trailer drivers across the country as part of the plan of action adopted at the last National Summit on Haulage operations organized by the FRSC.
Oyeyemi commended the state government for its sustained support for the FRSC campaigns, assuring that the Corps will continue to work with the state towards ensuring safer road environment.
As part of the strategic partnership initiative between the state and the FRSC, the Corps Marshal expressed commitment of the Corps to train the personnel of the State Traffic Management Agency at the FRSC Academy Udi and Training School Jos, to make them more efficient.
He added that the Corps is in support of the state governments establishing State Traffic Management Agencies as that allows the FRSC to concentrate its operations on the highways while the state agencies take care of the metropolitan roads.
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