The Federal Road Safety Commission Historical Background

Efficient transportation remains a critical factor to the economic and social prosperity of any nation. It is in this regard that articulating an all inclusive, people oriented and sustainable modes of transportation becomes imperative. History of road safety is not a new concept in Nigeria. Ever since Nigeria became a British Protectorate in 1925 the issue

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of road safety did not receive government attention until the Central Government of Nigeria set up a Road Board in 1960, this was followed by the establishment of the Traffic Police Unit in 1972. The first deliberate policy on road safety took place in 1974 with the creation of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) by the then Federal Military Government and was placed under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Works from 1974 to 1988. In spite of the 14 years that the NRSC existed and operated, the Nigerian highways became progressively dangerous as the lives of road users were lost through preventable road crashes.

In 1977, the Military Administration in Oyo State established the Oyo State Road Safety Corps (OSRSC), which made some local significant improvement in road safety and road discipline in the State. This lasted till 1983 when it was disbanded by the Federal Government. As stated earlier, prior to the establishment of the Federal Road Safety Commission in 1988, there was no concrete and sustained policy action to address the Road Safety question. Earlier attempts in this direction were limited to discrete and isolated attempt by private individuals and some states in Nigeria. Notable was the effort of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPFCN) between 1960 and1965; the efforts of the Nigerian Army in the training of its officers and men on road safety in the early 70‘s. The Nigerian Army started the First Public Road Safety Campaign in 1972 when it initiated an annual Road Safety Week (FRSC, 2005 and 2007).

Disturbed by the unpleasant trends on the nation‘s traffic system often resulting to an upsurge in road traffic accidents, the Federal Government initiated a search for a credible and effective response to this challenge. On February 18^th 1988, the Federal Military Government established the Federal Road Safety Commission through Decree No.

45 of the 1988 as the lead government agency on road safety matters; vide Decree No 45 of 1988 as amended by Decree 35 of 1992. The Federal Military Government appointed Professor Oluwole Soyinka as the pioneer Chairman of the Commission. While Decree 45 of 1988 restricted FRSC operations to Federal highways; Decree 35 of 1992 expanded its jurisdiction to cover all public highways in the country and also empowered the personnel of the corps to bear arms. Decree 35 of 1992 changed the designation of the Chief Executive Officer from Director of Organization and Chief Executive (DOACE) to Corps Marshal and Chief Executive (COMACE) as well as creation of corps out of the

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Commission. Both decrees were cited as the FRSC Act (CAP 141) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 1990. This was recently repealed and reenacted as the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007. The essence of the 2007 enactment was to capture current issues and broaden the Commission‘s mandate to holistically address issues bordering on road traffic administration and safety management in Nigeria. The Commission is saddled with the responsibility of organising, administering, and making road safety administration policies in Nigeria and statutorily placed under the Presidency.

The vision and policy statement of the FRSC is to eradicate and create safe monitoring environment through the FRSC (Establishment) Act 2007, other traffic laws and quality management system (QMS) standards with a view to continually improving its mode of operations in Nigeria. The mission is to strictly regulate, coordinate and enforce road traffic regulations through: sustained public enlightenment; effective patrol operations; robust data management; prompt rescue services; improved stakeholders cooperation and improved vehicle administration.

In line with the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) passed by the National Assembly as Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act 2007.

The functions of the Commission generally relates to making the highway safe for motorists and other road users, The FRSC is statutorily required to recommend works and devices designed to eliminate or minimize accidents on the highways and advising the Federal and State Governments including the Federal Capital Territory Administration and relevant governmental agencies on the localities where such works and devices are required, and educating motorists and members of the public on the need to observe all road traffic rules and regulations so as to bring about reduction and prevention in road traffic crashes and injuries on the highways. In particular, the Commission is charged with the responsibilities for:

 Preventing or minimizing accidents on the highway;

 Clearing obstructions on any part of the highways;

 Educating drivers, motorists and other members of the public generally on the proper use of the highways;

 Designing and producing the driver‘s license to be used by various categories of vehicle operators;

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 Determining, from time to time, the requirements to be satisfied by an applicant for a driver‘s licence;

 Designing and producing vehicle number plates;

 The standardization of highway traffic codes;

 Giving prompt attention and care to victims of accidents;

 Conducting researches into causes of motor accidents and methods of preventing them and putting into use the result of such researches;

 Determining and enforcing speed limits for all categories of roads and vehicles and controlling the use of speed limiting devices;

 Cooperating with bodies or agencies or groups in road safety activities or in prevention of accidents on the highways;

 Making regulations in pursuance of any of the functions assigned to the Corps by or under this Act.

 Regulating the use of sirens, flashers and beacon lights on vehicles other than ambulances and vehicles belonging to the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police, Fire Service and other Para-military agencies;

 Providing roadside and mobile clinics for the treatment of accident victims free of charge;

 Regulating the use of mobile phones by motorists;

 Regulating the use of seat belts and other safety devices;

 Regulating the use of motorcycles on the highway;

 Maintaining the validity period for drivers‘ licences which shall be three years subject to renewal at the expiration of the validity period; and

 In exercise of the functions, members of the Commission shall have power to arrest and prosecute persons reasonably suspected of having committed any traffic

offence.

However, it should be noted that the traffic situation before the establishment of the FRSC in Nigeria could be best described as chaotic, unpredictable and indeed dangerous as characterised by unprecedented wave of road traffic accidents with attendant colossus of human and material losses. Within this era, public awareness and interest in road matters

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was minimal. There was uncoordinated and haphazard licensing of drivers and vehicles as well as absence of good driving culture. Deliberate policies and concerted efforts enforcing regulations were lacking. Osita (2009) add that the production of multiple licenses was rampant due to lapses in licensing administration and collapse of driver testing systems and procedures in Nigeria. Aside, Daramola (2003) add that there was collapse of vehicle inspection programme. In addition, there was massive importation of second-hand vehicles and this lead to annual increases in vehicle population. In addition, enforcement of road traffic laws faced dangerous threat as there was duplication of functions in road traffic administration and enforcement by multiple agencies like The Nigeria Police and Vehicles Inspection Officers (V.I.Os) that were established by different states government. Worse still, the continued dangerous trend of road traffic accidents in Nigeria which placed the nation as one of the most notorious road traffic accidents prone countries worldwide, only second to Ethiopia. Between 1970 and 1980, Nigeria recorded 317,838 road crashes and 65,972 deaths. In view of foregoing, the FRSC therefore is a child of necessity.

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Table 2.6 Summary of Reported Road Traffic Crashes Trends in Nigeria before 1993

Year Fatal Serious Minor Total Cases

Number Killed

Number Injured

Total Casualty

1960 826 9065 4239 14130 1083 10216 11299

1961 193 9982 5788 15963 1313 10614 11927

1962 1263 9159 5895 16317 1578 10341 11919

1963 967 6918 11950 19835 1532 7771 9303

1964 911 7371 7645 15927 1769 12581 14350

1965 1029 7762 8113 16904 1918 12024 13942

1966 1680 5600 6270 14000 2000 13000 15000

1967 1560 5200 6240 13000 2400 10000 12400

1968 459 5865 5839 12163 2808 9474 12282

1969 1559 5199 6230 12998 2347 8804 11151

1970 1999 6666 7991 16666 2893 13154 16047

1971 129 8098 8518 17745 3206 14592 17798

1972 2782 9275 11130 23187 3921 16161 20082

1973 2981 9275 11925 24844 4537 18154 22691

1974 3467 11557 13869 28893 4992 18660 23652

1975 2834 9446 11331 23651 5552 20132 25684

1976 905 17352 19624 40881 6761 28155 34916

1977 4242 14140 17334 35351 8000 30023 38023

1978 4333 14444 17334 36111 9252 28854 38106

1979 3513 11708 14050 29271 8022 21203 29225

1980 1856 14855 15427 32138 8736 25484 34220

1981 4053 13510 16214 33777 10202 26337 36539

1982 4451 14838 17805 37094 11382 28539 39921

1983 3853 12844 15412 32109 1046 26866 37328

1984 4467 10557 13868 28892 8830 23861 32691

1985 3597 11991 14380 29978 9221 23853 33074

1986 3022 10075 12091 25188 8154 22176 30330

1987 3385 11286 13544 28215 7912 22747 30659

1988 607 885 680 2172 9077 24413 33490

1989 612 690 452 1754 8714 23687 32401

1990 6140 8796 6998 21934 8154 22786 30940

1991 6719 8982 6845 22546 9525 24508 34033

1992 6986 9324 6554 22864 9620 5759 15379

1993 6735 8443 6281 21459 9454 24146 33600

Source: Federal Road Safety Commission Highway Code (2004)