The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has engaged transport stakeholders on the ‘safe to load programme’, to prevent accidents, especially during the ember months.

The FRSC Lagos sector corps commander, Babatunde Farinloye, reiterated the need to enhance safety during the command’s stakeholders’ engagement on the implementation, in Lagos, on Wednesday.

The theme of the 2023 stakeholders engagement is “towards strengthening safety in petroleum product haulage by road in Nigeria.”

Mr Farinloye, represented by deputy corps commander, Tajudeen Mafe, said constant training would go a long way to reduce accidents on the roads.

He said that there was a need for stakeholders to put their vehicles in road-worthy standard.

“There is need for all the truck stakeholders, including the drivers, to go for training and retraining, to enhance their operations as well as productivity.

“There is need for the truck drivers to obtain Class G driver’s licence.

“Truck drivers should upgrade their Class E licence to Class G for proper identification and procedure,” Mr Farinloye said.

He said that before their Class E Driver’s licence expires, they could start processing the Class G licence which could be processed within 60 days.

Mr Farinloye said they do not just stop vehicles arbitrarily without sighting the absence of some safety standards.

He advised truck owners to work toward making use of trains to transport consignments, to free the roads of heavy loads of goods.

The director, transport operations, Lagos state ministry of transportation, Olasunkanmi Ojowuro, said all hands should be on deck to ensure safety.

He said that safety on the roads concerned all stakeholders.

Mr Ojowuro instructed the government transport officers to ensure that trucks and tankers were road-worthy, urging stakeholders to also check the standard of the vehicles.

He advised operators to install cameras to enable them to monitor the activities and operations of their drivers.

Mr Ojowuro said that drivers should abide by all the road traffic laws of both the States and the Federal Government to prevent accidents in the ‘ember’ months.

The coordinator of the programme, chief route commander, FRSC, Olasheinde Egbontan, stated that ‘safe to load’ initiative was strategic to enhance safety in the transportation sector.

Mr Egbontan said that the purpose of the engagement was to rub minds and plan ahead of the ember months which usually experience increase in the volume of tanker and truck traffic on the roads.

He said that given the experiences of the previous years, there was a need for them to be more proactive.

The coordinator urged them to bring to bear those things that needed to be fixed before embarking on long-distance trips.

Mr Egbontan said that the meeting was part of the corps’ proactive intervention toward having crash-free ember months in 2023 and beyond.

The representative of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Shakiru Adewale, commended the efforts of the FRSC on the roads.

He urged the state government to help them look into the challenges they faced with street urchins, which had caused loss of lives and property during the course of their operations.

The national officer, National Industrial Safety Council of Nigeria (NISCN), Taiwo Mogbojuro, said that everybody was part of safety, urging stakeholders to collaborate in achieving a greater economy.

Mr Mogbojuro said that there was a need for partnership to enable them to abide by government policy.

Andrew Emuze, depot manager, Bono Energy, said multi-product loading was not allowed, but in some cases, trucks, after leaving their premises, engaged in it along the way.

“We ensure trucks are in proper shape before loading and we also carry out physical inspection before releasing the truck drivers,” Mr Emuze said.

He advised truck owners not to compromise in engaging motor boys and solicited for synergy between them and safety personnel, to reduce accidents on the roads.

(NAN)