By Ngozi Nwankwo
The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has called on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, to extend support to its training institutions to enhance the capacity and professionalism of road safety personnel across the country.
FRSC Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mohammed praised TETFund’s impactful intervention projects in tertiary institutions nationwide and emphasized the need for collaboration to reduce road traffic crashes and achieve a zero-casualty rate.
“We have academic institutions. And these institutions were designated in 2023 by an Act to be self-funded outside the budget of road safety,” Mohammed said.
“But today, we are not able to access the funding of those institutions. So it’s an opportunity for us to come to TETFund, to appreciate TETFund, and to partner and collaborate and see what TETFund can do for those institutions to have some infrastructure and funding to deliver so that we can continue to reduce road crashes on Nigerian roads and have safer mobility wherever citizens of Nigeria can go within the country,” he added.
The Corps Marshal also revealed FRSC’s ambitious target of reducing road crashes by 50% with zero fatalities, stressing the importance of technology, research, and continuous personnel training to achieve the goal.
On his part, Echono expressed TETFund’s willingness to collaborate with FRSC, particularly in awareness creation and training to promote safer roads, not only within tertiary institutions but across the country.
The TETFund boss also expressed delight on the digital transformation witnessed in FRSC, saying the move has brought more sanity to roads.
“And by embracing technology, you were able to also spread and even bring some visibility to the work you are doing.
” And I believe the Federal Road Safety Corps have done a very good job in this regard. It has been widely acknowledged that there is a sharp drop in the mortality, both in the rates of accidents and also in consequential mortality.
Speaking further, Echono said: ” TETFund stands poised to collaborate with every agency and organization in advancing the Nigerian project, in stimulating and accelerating the rate of development in our country. And we are willing to explore all the opportunities for partnership, for collaboration, some of which you have highlighted and some of which you have made available to us.”
While saying FRSC can leverage on TETFund to reach out to millions of Nigerian students and students on its road safety awareness programmes, Echono said the agency is ready to provide support for tertiary institutions owned by the corps that posses relevant certifications, adding that the Fund will also collaborate with the organisation in the area of research.