Stakeholders at the ‘On the Highway Africa 2025’ town hall on Friday in Lagos urged the FRSC to revive motorised patrols to reduce highway crashes.

They said past patrols helped curb drivers’ excesses which often caused serious crashes on major routes.

The meeting, with the theme ‘Driving into the New Year: Safer Roads, Fuller Communities’, stressed the need for stronger oversight on highways.

Transport journalist, Moses Akaigwe, said the FRSC was “not as efficient or respected as before”, urging fresh innovations to boost relevance.

He called for FRSC involvement at the design stage of new road projects to improve safety outcomes across the network.

Mr Akaigwe urged government to “end sachet alcohol sales in parks”, describing it as “a major cause of crashes”, and asked the NDLEA to enforce the ban.

He advised transport owners to train drivers properly and insisted that private motorists must maintain their vehicles before travel.

Transporter, Isaac Uhunmwagho, said danger on highways had “multiplied tremendously”, adding that visible FRSC marshals were urgently needed.

He said safety was core for all operators and warned that alcoholism among drivers must be addressed immediately.

Mr Uhunmwagho said transport owners must ensure drivers with alcohol problems “never take control of any vehicle”.

Zonal commanding officer, FRSC, Ann Oladayo, said road safety was a shared duty and insisted the corps was working hard to reduce crashes.

Ms Oladayo, represented by deputy corps marshal, Umar Bamayi, said motorised patrols were costly but plans were underway to improve capacity.

“We are working within budget and hope things improve so we can do better,” she said.

Founder of ‘On the Highway Africa’, Julie Chi-Nwaoha, said the campaign aimed to raise awareness and drive collective action on road safety.

She noted that every crash involved “a family, a friend, or a loved one” dealing with immense pain and economic hardship.

Ms Chi-Nwaoha said road safety was everyone’s business and urged citizens to play their part in protecting road users.

She commended FRSC Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed for “visionary leadership” in digitalising operations to improve efficiency and save lives.

She urged participants to remember that “every life matters” and to work together for safer roads and a brighter future. 

(NAN)