BREAKING NEWS, Cover, Featured
–
BOBOYE Olayemi Oyeyemi, corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, is passionate about saving lives. This is why he is insisting on implementing the speed limiting policy of the government to ensure that commercial road users limit their speed to avoid road crashes that invariably result in loss of lives.
Oyeyemi is of the view that if all the drivers, owners of vehicles and other road users comply with the minimum safety standards and the drivers also imbibe defensive driving technique and full compliance with traffic laws rules and regulations, road crashes and loss of lives will be drastically reduced in Nigeria. This is because 82 percent of the major cause is attributed to the driver while the remaining 18 percent is attributed to the vehicle and the state of the road.
The idea of reducing road crashes is because Oyeyemi, who was born on November 26, 1960, wants Nigeria to have the best road safety records in Africa. Right now Ghana is ahead of Nigeria which is the second in road safety record. This is also why Oyeyemi’s personal vision is to have a month in Nigeria that there will be zero fatality, not zero crash.
This appears to be a tall order. But the corps marshal says even though it is ambitious, he prays he will be able to achieve this feat during his tenure. “Then that means that I have achieved what is expected of me. God will help me.”
Oyeyemi, who joined the FRSC as Electrical Engineer from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, also has a post graduate diploma, Transport Management and an MPA from the University of Lagos, Akoka. He started working with the Federal Road Safety Corps as officer in charge of communications, corps marshal’s office at the FRSC headquarters and rose through the ranks to become the deputy director, Operations, director, MVA, Zonal Commanding Officer, Yola, head/director of Operations, head of department, Planning, Research and Statistics, head of department, Training, Standardisation and Certification, head of department, Operations, and head of department, Motor Vehicle and Administration, before his current position.
He has won many awards including Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Award, Certified Distinguished Administrator Award, Institute of Corporate Administration, American Medal of Honour, American Biographical Institute, USA, Man of the Year Award, American Biographical Institute, USA, and member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR.
Oyeyemi, who runs a very busy schedule managed to squeeze out time in April to grant an exclusive interview to Maureen Chigbo, editor, Realnews in his office in Abuja. He used the opportunity to clear all the controversies on the alleged scam in the process of obtaining vehicle licenses and plate number registration, supposed rivalry between the FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIOs. He is also categorical on whose constitutional responsibility it is to administer road taxes and what it will take to make Nigeria the first country in Africa to meet the requirements of the UN Decade of Action for road safety. Excerpts:
Realnews: Can you assess the road safety situation in the country?
Oyeyemi: Well, so far so good notwithstanding that we had some challenges from VIP crashes. I think the first quarter report has encouraged us to do better for the second quarter and for the remaining part of the year. We have seen that with the effective deployment of our tools of advocacy, education and enlightenment, we seem to be making inward progress. In addition to that, our focus on the issue of use of seat belt, especially the rear seatbelt now that is on the front burner and also, the use of phone while driving and the tyre campaign is yielding dividend gradually and we believe that we should be able to sustain this. I must also appreciate that the road users are beginning to realise the essence of imbibing defensive driving techniques and an enduring safe road culture which is the ultimate. One thing I want to say is that we seem to have a population of an estimated number of eight million vehicles. If all the drivers and the road users, the vehicle owners comply with the minimum safety standards and the drivers also imbibe defensive driving technique that means that the driver ahead of you or behind you is a potential threat to your existence, and full compliance with traffic laws rules and regulations, I think it will be much better. Because the most important thing today is that when a crash occurs 82 percent of the major cause is attributed to the driver. So when this is attributed to the driver, the remaining 18 percent is attributed to the vehicle and the road. So, it is a major issue. That means we need to do more on the issue of driving on the highway that is the human element and the fundamental today which I have been drumming using the media, is the issue of attitudinal changes. There is need for Nigerian to improve on their attitude towards government policies and directives. We are hopeful that we should be able to implement the speed limiting device in the second quarter. The government support is encouraging. We want to thank Mr. President for improving the logistics of the corps. We are having new vehicles, ambulances. So by the time we fully inject all these it will give us some mileage. And it is going to impact on road safety management in Nigeria.
Realnews: You said something about the speed limiter. It was supposed to be implemented in April.
Oyeyemi: It is on course. We are waiting for the report of the public hearing. Since we have participated in the hearing and we have been able to clear the air that this thing is only for commercial vehicles. We will move on.
Realnews: So you have not started implementing it.
Oyeyemi: We will continue with our engagement with all the stakeholders. The installation is going on. None of the processes has stopped. We have commenced with effect from the 1st January subtle enforcement. What we have soft-pedalled on was the full blast enforcement. It is a major policy programme that will give us a major shift. So, I can tell you authoritatively, there is no going back on the implementation of the speed limiting device on our roads. It is so fundamental that we need to save lives. We need to cut down on the speed of commercial vehicles. We need to protect the lives of passengers. It is my primary responsibility to ensure that whatever we can do to preserve lives is done.
Realnews: There is this controversy that started recently with messages that sent through Whatsapp alleging a scam involving the FRSC with regards to obtaining vehicle plate number and license. Could you clear the air on the alleged scam in vehicles registration and licensing?
Oyeyemi: There is no scam. The issue of vehicle registration, driver’s license, these are road taxes. Constitutionally, it is only the state governments that can administer road taxes not federal, not even the local governments. So vehicle registration is the responsibility of the state. So issuance of driver’s license, it is the state not federal. The act establishing the corps is very clear. The Federal Road Safety Commission has never for once attempted to usurp the powers of the state in respect of this. This is very clear and the joint tax board is fully aware. But we have a role, because we are talking about federation and it has to do with the design of number plate and driver’s license that is for uniformity. Nobody is contesting that. Now, the critical issue we are talking about is on the vehicle registration is the process. When you take a new vehicle to licensing office you pay for the new vehicle registration, you pay for number plate. There is one component that is not being done properly that has to do with insurance. It is online with the registration now. If you don’t do a valid insurance, you will not get proof of the ownership certificate that actually says who is the owner of the vehicle. Once that process is not complete, you will not get SMS that shows the status of registration. If you don’t have that it shows the registration is incomplete. And we have engaged the states concerned, and consultants and they have been able to work on this. And if you check again now you will see a lot of improvement. We are more of regulating what they are doing. I think those dark patches have been cleared so everything is on course. But again how did we get to this. I must commend the inspector general of police, IGP. We carried out capacity building for the personnel and thereafter, the IGP still insisted that more should come. It is the data base of the Corps that other security agencies have deployed towards road safety management and checking of crimes. Now we have trained all the security agencies. Nobody needs to write to us again. All the agencies have unrestricted access to the national data base which is domiciled with FRSC. The data base must be domiciled with somebody. With that now they have access so the paper work has gone. So everybody can have access any time whether it is 2am, 12noon, 5am or 5pm. So with that it makes the work easier and you can use your phone. Even as a public, if you register your vehicle, you can check the status of your registration using the short message. And it is the same thing with your driver’s license. If you obtain your license and you want to check whether your license is valid, genuine. That’s one of the things I promised three years ago that we deployed information verification portal. Once this is deployed, all this issue of fake registration, fake licenses, fake number plates will be a thing of the past. If you look at the driver’s license scheme today we have achieved a milestone. All these issues of fake licenses are gone now because once a patrol team stops a vehicle, 1) the first thing is to verify the vehicle license from the e-tablet we have deployed. So people now know that once your license is verified and is fake you are arrested and referred to the Department of State Services, you are investigated, you are detained. And it is stupidity or madness for official licence rate to be N6,350 and people are going to do fake license for N20,000. So, you can see the problem.
Realnews: Don’t you think people are doing it because they are having difficulty getting the genuine license?
Oyeyemi: All these bottlenecks in the last two years, it is the Corp responsibility to improve on it. I have cleared all these. We have been able to improve on the working system because it is a tripartite programme with the states and the vehicle inspection officers. There is so much improvement going on today. The observation you raised was true in the last two weeks, it has been corrected. We are fully on. You see, in the implementation of any programme, there must be problems. But it is the ability to review and correct it is what makes the dynamics of the system to function.
Realnews: How do you see the future of road safety management in Nigeria?
Oyeyemi: I want to say that with the present administration less than one year, (interview was in April) the injection of logistics to work with is unprecedented in the history of the Corps. So with the present government and the outlook we have for this year, it shows our work has improved. So I am optimistic that the ultimate is saving lives. That more lives will be saved, In the next four years by 2020, we will be able to meet the United Nation decade of Action for Road Safety that says that we should reduce fatalities by 50 percent.
Realnews: What stage are we now?
Oyeyemi: So far, so good. The mid-term report last year in Brazil of which I was privileged to attend, shows that Nigeria is on course. We are second in Africa in terms of assessment in performance of implementation of the decade of action. But Ghana is ahead of Nigeria. We believe we are on course. But we just want to be the best in Africa and that is my goal to ensure that we remain the lead in Africa. But my own personal vision is to ensure to have a month in Nigeria that it will be zero fatality, not zero crash. It is ambitious. But I pray I will be able to achieve that during my tenure that for this reporting month, there were crashes but no life lost. Then that means that I have achieved what is expected of me. God will help me.
Realnews: Is there rivalry between the VIO and the Road Safety Corp?
Oyeyemi: There is no rivalry between FRSC and any security agencies today. All of us are working in harmony and it is a success story. With all the stakeholders – NURTW, NUPENG, RTN – everybody is working towards the same goal. Then number two, vehicle inspection officers, there function is very clear. We are building their capacity. We have just trained them. I now want to build capacity for the testing officers. In addition, I am now going to build capacity of the motor licensing officers so that we are working on the same page. That is the ultimate.
Realnews: The public will like to know how long it takes to process vehicle registration and renewing driver’s license
Oyeyemi: It depends on individual. For a fresh applicant, you will go through a driving school, it will take them one month, 26 sessions for driving test by the VIO; then you pay and then you go for capture. So that one, will go for, if you follow all the process, five weeks. For fresh applicants who must go through a driving school you must spend minimum of 26 sessions through a driving school. For renewal, you can do it online with your ATM card, fill the form and then go for capture, once you do your capture you get your license. We have simplified this and we are working more with the states to ensure the success of the uniform licensing scheme.
Realnews: What message do you have for Nigerians as far as road safety is concern?
Oyeyemi: Drive to save a life today.
— Jul 11, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
|
Tags:
