…As OPS says safety on roads is biggest capital for business owners
Nigeria is said to be very vast and is regarded as one of the largest countries in Africa by land mass. Observers thus said this requires private sector collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to track motorists and reduce accidents.
This was echoed in Port Harcourt in the week when a kingpin in the organized private sector (OPS), Nabil Saleh of M. Saleh Group, was conferred as an ‘Hononary Special Marshal’ along with some eggheads (vice chancellors of universities) by the FRSC.
Nigeria recorded a total number of road traffic crashes of 2,967 in only three months (Q2) in 2023, said to be an increase of 8.56% from the previous quarter which recorded 2,733. It was however seen as a 9.60% fall from 3,282 in Q2 2022.
Saleh, a Port Harcourt-based business magnet and Managing Director of a group of companies who is former President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), was been conferred with the Honorary Special Marshal (FRSC), Rivers zone 6 headquarters, Port Harcourt.
The conferment was conducted on Saleh, a chief in Port Harcourt, along with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Owunari Abraham Georgewill, by the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, represented by Henry Benamaisia, an Assistant Commanding Officer (Zone RS6HQ) Port Harcourt, at the Emerald Institute of Economics, Policy and Strategic Studies, UNIPORT.
Responding, Saleh said private sector executives value life and assets on roads very much, saying getting them involved in road safety management would pay off handsomely because it would reduce recklessness on Nigerian roads.
He said after the conferment that the executives and managers of businesses would be the ones to control company drivers and moving assets to plug any holes in road safety controls.
He said any offenders that may escape the eyes of the FRSC and other special marshals will not escape businessmen (OPS).
He said that was why he came along to the conferment with the newly installed president of the Port Harcourt City Chamber (PHCCIMA), Chinyere Nwoga (PhD), to underscore the importance of the event.
He went on: “It is also to underline the partnership between the organized private sector (OPS) and institutions of government especially the FRSC that ensures safety on hour roads.
“By the powers conferred on me today as a high-ranking member of the OPS, if any traffic offender escapes other special marshals, they will not escape us.”
Lending support to the importance of collaboration between the OPS and FRSC, Nwoga, the first female president of the Port Harcourt City Chamber, admitted that the conferment on the serial investor was a huge recognition of the critical role the OPS can play in helping public sector operators meet their targets.
“I do see it that way because first of all we have been known to have a strong partnership with the FRSC because of the critical role they play particularly in the economy. This is because if we are not safe, if our drivers are not safe, there’ll be no business, let alone profit. So, to that extent, yes! It’s a great honour to recognise him for all he has done through the private sector most times to contribute to safety on our roads and to the activities of the FRSC.”
She pledged to continue to partner with the FRSC because they have a critical role to play. “It’s important that our members understand the need to use the road safely and also to provide safety for others because if you drive carelessly, you are endangering the lives of other people. So, we at the City Chamber will imbibe all their core tenets and transmit this to our members. We will partner with them so that we can be alive to do business.”
Read also: Yuletide 2024: FRSC foresees drop in road crashes
Nwoga, a versatile business operator and business management expert and author said her responsibilities to the OPS were clearly defined and set out. “Our primary role is advocacy for the private sector. It’s something that comes naturally to us because before you become a president, you’ll be in the box for six years. These are years of learning and years of understanding what the job is about.
“So, I came very prepared, and our members are our basic constituency. We we’ll work with government to ensure that there is enabling environment for them to do business and also to provide linkages and more business opportunities and networking opportunities for our members so that businesses will thrive. This is because when businesses thrive, the economy grows. So, in a nutshell, that’s what we are going to do and we are ready for that.”
In his remarks, the vice chancellor of the Uniport, Georgewill, observed that the coming into being of the FRSC has helped Nigeria have a good road safety profile in Africa.
He said he was proud to be conferred with the award of a special marshal and promised to sanitise the Uniport areas and beyond. He agreed to work with the FRSC to probably make the place a centre for testing and other FRSC facilities.
Welcoming the elite audience, the Sector Commander, Rivers State, Inyang Edet Umoh, made it clear that the FRSC cannot police the roads alone, thus, the need to encourage special marshals who he however said must be properly screened. The aim, he stated, is to ensure that Nigerian roads are safe especially in the ‘Ember months’. He talked about launching what he called ‘Operation Zero’, to record zero accident rate but even if accident occurred, let there be no fatality.
A professor, Theophilus Igbobo, who is the State Coordinator, Special Marshal, Rivers State, pointed out that the title of ‘Honorary Special Marshal’ is not given anyhow, and “We do not have up to 10. Today, four persons have been picked and they are very worthy ambassadors.”
In his keynote address, Benamaisia, who stood in for Mohammed, the Corps Marshal, “In FRSC, we have three arms: Road Safety Blocks, the Special Marshals, and the Regular Marshals. The special Marshals are men of reputable character, people who have their own means of livelihood, reputable people, men of calibre with exemplary lifestyles and without any blemish.”
He explained that the powers given to special marshals are same powers and strength which we have, you can exercise it as it is. Don’t see as an ordinary power or uniform.”
He said the conferment has recognition and respect even abroad because volunteering is highly regarded in most foreign countries.
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