Recently, the Oyo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Corps Commander Adekanye Joshua Oluwafemi was our guest on our popular live Radio Show anchored by OLAYINKA AGBOOLA, Parrot Xtra Hour on Splash 105.5fm, Felele, Ibadan. He spoke about his achievements so far in office. Excerpts:
Our listeners (readers) will like to know more about you sir… Â
My name is Adekanye Joshua Oluwafemi. I’m from Ondo, Akure precisely. I attended Methodist Primary school in Akure, then Oyemekun Grammar School in Akure and Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti. History was my first degree and I later got enlisted into the Federal Road Safety Corp in 1990. So, within that period till date, I have worked in various departments and so many states all over the nation.
Thank you sir. I know the Road Safety Corp was established and included in the Nigerian constitution. We all know the police, what exactly are the major duties FRSC is supposed to be performing?
Basically, FRSC was established in 1988 and the whole idea was to reduce or if possible eradicate crashes on our major highways. So, whatever we are doing surrounds this major issue -that is to make sure that there are no crashes on the road, that we will not experience crashes on our major highways. That is the major work of FRSC. What we want to achieve is to stop accidents from occurring and if it occurs, it should not be too fatal.
Is that the reason why your officers check tires, fire extinguishers…
The things we check are many, when it was established; there are three rules that guide us to ensure that we achieve our aim. The first is what we call regular marshal, those are people like us that are being paid by the government, we also have the Special Marshals- they are the important people in the society that can be of help to us, those are the ones the government are not paying salaries like us, we also have the young ones we call the Road Safety Club, we have them in primary schools, NYSC level and secondary schools. The main reason for this is that we are trying to imbibe the road safety culture in them so that when they are old enough they can know what to do when they are on the road to avoid accidents.
I’m interested in the special marshal people, are they still working? They seem not to be as vibrant and ubiquitous as they used to be…
The special marshals are still working and they are doing their jobs diligently within the society.
I want to ask you this sir- most of our people are not always aware of when FRSC’s recruitment exercises take place. If an individual wants to join FRSC, what are the steps to take so that our parents and children that are listening to us can know what to do?
According to the question you have asked, as at this time last week, it was one of the reasons I couldn’t make it here, we were recruiting nationwide, those we called to come for screening had initially applied online. We advertise it online, and in the newspaper, and afterwards, we call them for screening. Everything they put down in the form they filled we confirm if it they are true, like their date of birth or age, educational background and certifications. That was what we did all through last week, and so many people were present there, we started on Tuesday and ended on Saturday. We are yet to employ them, but for everyone we have screened, we have taken their details to our headquarters in Abuja.
Elections have come and gone, before and after the electoral exercise, Oyo state was adjudged to be one of the most peaceful and tranquil states in Nigeria. FRSC played a major role, how easy was it managing the traffic before, during and after the elections?
We really thank God for the peace that we experienced at least in Oyo state before, during and even after the elections, and by the grace of God, for us at FRSC, we were able to manage the traffic situation during the period by ensuring the deployment of our men on the roads and we actually called our men and we talked to them so that even those that our politicians that were campaigning… that they should be able to tolerate them and keep them in line to ensure that other road users were not deprived of their rights.
Your officers seem to have also been able to maintain minimal confrontation with citizens especially politicians and their followers especially the ‘foot soldiers’. You said your men were able to manage them, did you give them special training?
Yes, we gave them briefings and retraining.
What of your relationship with other enforcement agencies?
We worked perfectly together during the period. Almost every day we were meeting, strategizing so that we would have a very peaceful election in the state, we worked together even as a body. Hardly can you differentiate any agency, during the election.
Elections are gone now; let’s talk specifically on Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority because if you look at it, what you are supposed to do is what they are doing. What level of working relationship do you have with the organisation?
Yes, Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority is our baby, there is no way you can do it alone and the issue of safety is just the responsibility of everybody, so we are working well, we are doing it together and there’s no problem between FRSC and OYRTMA.
When you first got to Oyo State, I read it somewhere that you went to meet Mogaji Akin Fagbemi, you were in his office and most of the things you discussed you were going to do, have you been doing them?
Yes, we have been doing them, we have been working together.
As far as some of us are concerned, the rate at which people comply with road safety laws has reduced, things seem to be getting worse every day or have you not noticed too sir?
That is even our major work, it has nothing to do with our relationship with OYRTMA. But on our own part, we are trying on daily basis to see how we can curb all these. We don’t really rely on enforcement alone, we go as far to see how we can even educate them, that is even our major issue and we have been moving from parks to parks to talk to them and there is one thing that we even call morning cry, what we normally do is that we send our men to the park in the morning before any vehicle moves out to talk to drivers before they embark on journeys on daily basis- that they should not drink, they should not over speed and if their colleagues are involved in such act, they should inform us in the office or inform any law enforcers on the road. That’s what we do, that’s what we have been doing and we are still doing more.
Is there any way you can measure some of these stuff that you do especially enlightenment campaigns? Please permit me sir to especially draw your attention to okada riders. Do they know basic traffic rules?
Yes, the issue with okada riders got compounded at a point, there was a time the Lagos state government banned okada. You see, at that point, most of them rushed down to Ibadan and almost every corner you see these okada riders. But on our own, we have been trying to see how we can put them together, still continue to talk to them, we have even been making arrests on daily basis, if you get to our office now you will see over 500-600 impounded motorbikes there.
Recently, there was a viral video of one of your officers in Egbeda who broke the mirror of a vehicle, were you also aware of it sir?
We heard about it and we saw it, and we have taken steps. In the past week, what happened was also something we were not happy with and the person that did such was the head of the team and it was an act that he was not supposed to be involved in. Then, there is no way there will be a team and you will not have a Judas amongst them, and I believe that was the Judas in our midst here in Oyo state. When that incident happened, there is something we call investigative panel, we asked them to investigate the issue – the cause of the incident and when they did that, we saw that our people, especially the team leader was at fault and the punishment he is supposed to go through we have done that to him, and what was recommended to him was loss of seniority, by the time his colleagues are being promoted, he will be in the same position  he is and apart from that, the mirror he broke- we have told him to get another one and he has done that. So, I am using the opportunity to appeal to those that he assaulted not to get angry, that is not our usual behaviour in FRSC, and if our people see such incident another day, they should ensure that they tell us on time, we are not ready to pamper anyone that misbehaves like that in FRSC, anyone who does what he/she is not supposed to do, we will punish such person duly. We have our constitution, the one that serves as guide that we call FRSC regulation on discipline which does not exempt anyone.
Specifically sir, how do you relate with the ACOMORON, the Okada people, tricycle operators and the park managers in Oyo state?
The ACOMORON, the NURTW, the park managers, all of them are stakeholders as the FRSC operation is concerned in the state and we have been working perfectly well.
Since you resumed as commander in the state last year, what will you say has been your major achievement?
Thank you very much, although I am not here with the statistics, I will see how I can get the record across to you. But from our own analysis, I discovered that personally, that there is a far reduction in Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) between the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of last year.
When we were chatting during break you, you hinted that the mere fact that they’ve almost completed the Lagos/Ibadan expressway – that the rate of accidents has increased, do you wish to elaborate more on this?
Yes, if you look at the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the road is now okay, the road is good, but the major problem we are facing on that road is that there are lots of drivers that are over speeding on that road and leading to crashes and most of the crashes there, although they are lucky in oyo state, the Oyo state axis has not recorded as many crashes compared with what obtains in Ogun and Lagos sections. Nonetheless, the crashes along that road is getting embarrassing and I still want to use this medium to appeal to our road users along that road that they should not over speed.
Government introduced a law on speed limiting device some years ago?
Speed limiting device, it is part of the enforcement we are doing, especially on the Lagos to Ibadan expressway- all the commercial vehicles are supposed to have speed limiting devices and once the device is on a vehicle, there is no way such vehicle can over speed than 100km/hr and any vehicle without it, we give them papers to go and install it and we make sure they do not bypass it. We let them know that we are not doing ourselves any favor by bypassing the speed limiting devices on our vehicles.
Do you now think most of the drivers have the device installed on their vehicles?
It is not all vehicles, because we make arrests every day – vehicles without it, every vehicle that serves commercial purpose, is supposed to have it and I know that before the year runs out, for all private cars too, the government will also make it mandatory.
Most Nigerians still go through a lot before they can obtain Driver license. Can you use this opportunity to enlighten our listeners on the official process to follow on this issue?
There are two different processes for getting driver’s license- we have for those who have not gotten at all and we also have for those who have gotten but want to renew. For those who do not have before, what they are to do is to go to an accredited driving school, they will do trainings for 26 sessions within a month and after that, they will do what is called a computer-based test on the training. After that, they will be issued a certificate, and it is the certificate they will take to the driver’s licensing centre- we have about 10 driver’s licensing centres in Oyo State, we can go to the one closer to us.
Can you mention them? Or do you have a list here?
I might not be able to mention the whole 10, but we have at the State Secretariat in our office, we have at Odo-Ona, we have at Onireke, we have at Eruwa, Saki, Ogbomoso, Oyo, and other major towns in the state.
What of the payments sir?
For the license, when they get there, they will be given the necessary forms to fill and after that, they will need to go to the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO centers) for test again to be certain if truly they can drive vehicles, so it is the VIO that will now give them the permit to confirm that truly such individual can now drive. After that, they will now need to make payment and it is during that payment that there is always a problem and we hear of different things where they say they are being charged a certain amount from them- for three years, it is 10,250 naira officially, for five years it is 15,450 naira, so after that they will now go for capturing and they will now give them temporary driver’s license which is the license they will use for a while within 60 days and after that, the permanent license will be out.
At the point of going for CBT exams and all others, will the driver have to first pay the 10,250 naira?
It is after they have done the CBT test they will have to make payments. They do not need to pay before doing the CBT test.
Is there any cooperation between your agency and the government of Oyo State in a way that benefits both parties?
The government of Oyo State is trying on the issue of road security, aside from the road safety, OYRTMA is also a part of Oyo State road agencies, and if you check the traffic lights on the newly constructed roads, you will see that the government is trying especially recently that the state government gave us a state of the art ambulance to support what we do.
Do you wish to talk about some of the challenges you are facing running your sector?
The challenges that I see in Oyo State especially in this city of Ibadan, I see that most of our markets lack enough parking spaces, and so it gives room for vehicles to park on the road and if we also check most of the banks too, they just build them without considering where their customers will park their vehicles. This is not good enough.
You once visited Oyo State’s board of internal revenue and you said you were both going to work together on enhanced revenue generation for the state, how far with this sir?
The cooperation is still there and when I leave this place, I have a meeting I am attending at the board of internal revenue later today.
In one of your recent statements, you were talking about advocating for public behavioral change to help curb reckless driving and general lawlessness on our roads, how far have you been able to actually achieve this move?
Yes, we are on it and in fact that is even the major focus of our public enlightenment, we believe in appealing to the conscience of the road users, we believe that an average road user should know what to do, you don’t need to wait for law enforcers to arrest you before you do the right thing.
Okay, let’s look at Lagos-Ibadan expressway, from old toll-gate to Ojoo, people die there on that road every day, Micra drivers versus trailer/truck drivers – you can make recommendations for overhead bridge, or pedestrian crossing, have you taken a look at that stretch of the road?
Thank you very much, if you look at that road, both federal and state government are working on that road, so it is just a work in progress and I believe that as soon as the road is okay, we will be able to now sit down and re-assess the road, but the major problem we are having on that road is impatience from those people that want to cross, the pedestrians.
Under the law, are you permitted to make recommendations?
Yes, we have been doing that to the federal ministry of works. My advice to our people is we should avoid over speeding on the road, then we should avoid overloading our vehicles.
