NEWS
Africa must Priotise Road Safety for Sustainable Development – FRSC Corps Marshal
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Malam Shehu Mohammed has said that Africa must prioritised robust road safety measures to protect lives and property.
Mohammed said this at the 1st Congress of the African Union of Transport and Logistics Organisations on Tuesday in Tangier, Kingdom of Morocco.
Report says that In recognition of the critical roles played by FRSC in West African sub region in road safety management, the Corps Marshal was honored as the leader of Nigeria delegation with an award.
The award was presented by the President of the Africa Union of Transport and Logistics Organisation Mr. Mustapha Chaoune during the opening ceremony.
The FRSC boss emphasised the continent’s need for effective transportation infrastructure while urging African nations to make road safety top priority.
He said that the theme of the joint exhibition titled “Building Sustainable Logistics Chains for Africa’s Structural Transformation” was as timely as it was very relevant to the current global trend in urban transportation systems.
“We are all aware that for an effective transportation system, we need a workable transport infrastructure that is interconnected to provide a dynamic and sustainable safe mobility of persons and service.
“This is expected to unite and enhance collaboration between African countries and foster better regional integration, especially in the area of road transport safety.
“I must therefore commend the vision behind the 1st Congress of African Union of Transport and Logistics Organisation.
“Permit me to also mention that the choice of the theme for the 1st International Exhibition on Mobility, Transport and Logistics seeks to address the challenges of Africa’s infrastructural transformation through sustainable supply chains.
“Apparently, Africa has admitted that road transport sub-sector remains the major channel for the mobility of goods and services. However, one of the major logistic challenges of the road transportation system in Africa is road safety.
“This is because road crashes have been a recurring decimal on African roads with high human causalities and unquantifiable destruction of goods and services,”he said.
The corps marshal said that against the alarming percentage of fatalities and injuries resulting from road crashes in Africa, the UN General Assembly passed a regulation for African countries to develop a national road safety development plan.
Mohammed added that in line with that perspective, Nigeria developed the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) document.
“The NRSS is a national blue print expected to galvanise both Government road Private Sector as critical stakeholders to ensure that road crash related deaths and injuries are reduced by 5 per cent by the end of the year 2030.
“Furthermore, the FRSC initiated and developed measures to ensure the safety of persons, goods and services plying the highways.
“The road safety programmes were anchored on two policy thrusts; public awareness component of the road safety, and the enforcement of traffic laws and regulations.
“From the history of our road safety awareness campaign, it is clear that the enforcement of road traffic regulations is a major logistic component in road transportation.
“No doubt, enforcement of road traffic laws and penalizing traffic offenders remains a major deterring factor. This has improved safety in the road transportation system,”he added.
Speaking further, the FRSC Corps Marshal said that Nigeria also acceded to the United Nations Road Safety Convention in furtherance of the need to strengthen road safety as a key logistic component on the road transport sub-sector.
According to him, subsequently, FRSC domesticated the core road safety related legal instruments.
“Therefore, in our deliberations during this congress, we should consider the following legal instruments as key logistics components that must be regulated and enforced for a sustainable Africa’s structural transformation, especially, in road transportation
“This includes Traffic Rules, Road Signs, Vehicle Regulations, Transport of Dangerous Goods; and Professional Driver Fatigue among others
The corps marshal who was the head of the delegation said that Nigeria was also a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund.
He added that the UN Road Safety Trust Fund was conceived as a deliberate effort to bridge the gaps in road transportation by improving safety as a logistic component in road transport sub-sector.
“Furtherance to that objective, FRSC is also proposing a dedicated road safety fund (RSF).
“If this is achieved, it will foster the integration of road safety into project planning; including safety assessments, designs and implementation, thus, improving safety in the road transportation sub-sector,”he said.
Mohammed assured that in the course of the Congress, discussions would further revealed possibilities and opportunities for Africa to collaborate and develop a cost effective integrated transport logistics.
This, he also assured would promote economic growth and improve Africa’s socio-cultural integration.
“We must also consider road safety as a major logistics component of road transportation in order to secure the human lives and property on our roads,”he maintained.
Other representatives from the African countries pledged thier support road safety and assured priority would be placed on safety of lives and property.
Report says that 37 African Countries were present for the Congress which are Morocco, the host, South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, Benn, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cote d’ivoire, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso,
Others are Mozambique, the Gambia, Niger, Zambia, Gabon, Central African Republic, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda among others.(NAN)
The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu has called for a lasting solution to eradicate environmental pollution caused by plastic wastes.
In her message to mark the year 2025 World Environment Day, with the theme ‘Ending Plastic Pollution’, in Abuja on Thursday, the first lady also advised people to curtail the way they consume food and drinks packaged in plastics.
“I join millions of Nigerians and the world in calling for urgent and united action to safeguard our environment.
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, affecting our health, our environment, and our future.“In Nigeria, we must rise to this challenge by changing how we consume packaged food items and how we dispose of plastic containers and bags.
“I particularly want to speak to our youths, the leaders of tomorrow, be it in schools or within our neighborhoods, each of you has a role to play in creating a cleaner, healthier and greener Nigeria,” she said.
Mrs Tinubu had recently promised to introduce environmental solutions clubs to schools through her NGO, Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI).
“I want to use this opportunity to introduce our students to two programmes that the RHI will be launching soon.
“First is the Environment Club for Secondary School Students and the Environment Society for Students in Tertiary institutions nationwide to help us clean up our environment and grow more trees.
“Second is the “Flow with Confidence” for our girls in rural communities.
“This programme is to provide one year’s supply of disposable sanitary pads to our adolescent girls to support them to remain in school during their menstrual cycle,” She said.
NAN further reports that some of the functions of RHI environmental clubs in schools would include raising environmental awareness; fostering social and life skills; empowering students to take action and promoting sustainable behaviours.
The clubs can also enhance critical thinking and creativity, encourage healthy lifestyles, and strengthen communities.
The club would encourage students to participate in various environmental projects, like tree planting, recycling, and garden projects, gaining practical experience and deeper understanding.(NAN))
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation on Wednesday evening banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States.The countries affected are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Nationals from these countries will be “fully” restricted from entering the U. S., according to the proclamation. Similarly, the entry of nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted.The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 am EDT (5:01am Nigerian time).Trump said the move was needed to protect the U.S. against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X.The U.S. President said the list could be revised and new countries could be added.He said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbour a “large-scale presence of terrorists”.He alleged others failed to cooperate on visa security and had an inability to verify travellers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the U.S..“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump said.Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security”.Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect national security threats.That order directed several cabinet members to submit a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”During his first term in office, Trump had announced a ban on travellers from seven countries, a policy that generated so much controversies before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.However, former President Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.” (NAN)From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr Dennis Otuaro has congratulated the traditional ruler of the Okochiri Kingdom in Rivers State, His Royal Majesty, King Ateke Tom on the occasion of his 61st birthday.Otuaro was among prominent guests that graced the colourful birthday celebration of King Ateke at his palace in Okochiri, Okrika Local Government Area, on Monday.
He described the Rivers monarch as “a respectable leader whose reign has brought about unity, peace, progress and development around his community. ”He stressed that King Ateke, who is also the ‘Sekuro of the Niger Delta’, was a great asset who had contributed immensely to the peace, stability, security and development of the region.Otuaro expressed his utmost regard for the traditional institution and the vital role of traditional rulers in the peace and development of communities in the Niger Delta.He noted that traditional rulers were among the critical stakeholders that the PAP was collaborating with to strengthen the programme’s peace-building process in the region.He reiterated that the programme was in safe hands, and strongly motivated by President Bola Tinubu to bridge the region’s human capital development gap through formal education scholarships and vocational training in aviation, maritime, agriculture, and other relevant trade areas.Otuaro said his policy of inclusivity had ensured the involvement of Niger Delta women in the programme’s initiatives, stressing that there were plans designed for their empowerment and contribution to the region’s socio-economic growth.He emphasized that he was focused on rendering quality service to the people of the region, and not distracted by the shenanigans of his detractors.Otuaro called on all stakeholders of the region to remain steadfast in the effort to sustain the prevailing peace in the region so that socio-economic and developmental activities could thrive around the communities.While expressing appreciation to King Ateke for his unwavering support to the programme, the PAP boss prayed to God to grant him long reign, longevity and good health.
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