Date: 2018-02-20

As part of activities marking the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Kwara Sector Command has honoured some of its officers and stakeholders with awards of excellence.

The event took place in Ilorin on Monday during a dinner organised by the command.

Sector Commander Sunday Maku said that the award was in recognition of the outstanding performance and support the command received from the officers and stakeholders.

The award of Best Officer was given to Edet John while Ademola Olorunfemi received the Best Marshal award.

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) received the Effective Partnership awards.

The receipients thanked the command for recognizing their contributions towards road safety and pledged not to relent in their duties.

The secretary of the Kwara NURTW, Mr Yemi Aliyu, thanked the FRSC for its commitment to safety on the roads and reiterated the union's commitment to continue to support the command.

On the achievements of the FRSC, the sector commander said: "We have every cause to celebrate because we have justified the reason for our establishment.

"Death rate before the establishment of FRSC was astronomical; over the years, the rate of crashes on our roads have reduced drastically.

"Even when we are not patrolling at night, we are on standby in the office, and by so doing, we have been able to reduce response time from 20 minutes to between one to nine minutes.

"This is a great feat and we have every cause to celebrate.

"We have numerous challenges, but we must thank the Federal Government for its financial support and we are appealing that the government should allow our corps marshal to recruit more hands.

"By so doing, we will be able to spread to every nooks and crannies of all local governments in the state."

He charged motorists and road users to obey regulations such as speeding and drunk driving.

"I always tell people not to carry petrol in their vehicles when travelling; no use of worn tyres, avoid overloading of goods and passengers.

"No drunk driving; avoid speeding and fatigue; for every four hour drive, you should have at least 15 minutes rest.

"The best driver is one who adopts commonsense speed limit. Commonsense speed is one that takes you from one point to another without being involved in any crash", he said.