The Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has welcomed the federal government’s plan to link state capitals with the rail transportation system following the commissioning of the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail service.
The FRSC boss opined that the train service, which was commissioned last Tuesday by President Mohammadu Buhari, would reduce road crashes along the ever-busy Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, adding that Nigeria requires effective inter-modal transportation system that would reduce pressure on the roads.
Speaking in Lagos at the weekend during the annual training workshop organized by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA), he said, “There is too much pressure on the road”.
With about 12million registered vehicles plying 204,000 km of total road network in the country, road safety is bound to be a challenge, he noted.
Mr. Oyeyemi also used the occasion to re-inform Nigerians that cost of obtaining a new driving license remains N6, 350 for three years and N10, 350 for five years, warning them not to pay more than that.
He also stressed the need for urgent harmonization of all the modes of transportation to reduce road traffic crashes.
The FRSC boss noted that Britain has the safest mode of transportation because of its inter-modal transportation system, advising Nigeria to follow suit.
“What we need is effective inter-modal transportation system and in abundance”, he said.
Oyeyemi stated that the country would begin to achieve more progress by the time the modern rail system is extended to all parts of the country, saying it is abnormal for a trailer or tanker to travel for more than two hours on the road before arriving at its destination.
He said most of the trailers and tankers are ageing and they are bound to fall while trying to navigate sharp bends on the roads.
