By UUde Ogbonnaya Israel
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, has raised concern over what he described as a troubling decline in discipline, professionalism, and effective command and control across field commands of the Corps nationwide.
He said the development has become noticeable in recent months and requires urgent intervention to restore the standards expected of the agency.
The Corps Marshal made this known during the opening ceremony of a sensitization programme themed “Sensitization Programme on Discipline Reinforcement and Strengthening of Command and Control in the Field Commands,” held in Bauchi.
Representing the Corps Marshal at the event, Assistant Corps (ACM) Marshal Usman Alhassan Ibrahim described the initiative as a deliberate effort to reawaken personnel to their duties and expected conduct as members of the Corps.
He emphasized that discipline remains the backbone of effective service delivery and public trust.According to him, “What we are having today is a reawakening effort for the FRSC staff and our conduct generally.”
He noted that the leadership of the Corps had become concerned about recent developments and resolved to organize an interactive session with staff to address the issues directly.
“The Corps Marshal has been concerned about recent happenings in the Corps and decided that we should have this interactive session with staff to be able to tell them our mandate and also to ensure that all our activities are guided by the regulations and the mandate given to us,” he said.
He further stressed that the programme was designed to remind officers of their responsibility to serve the Nigerian public diligently and professionally.
He explained that adherence to the Corps’ mandate is essential to maintaining order and ensuring safety on Nigerian roads.“And this has been the concern of the Corps Marshal because we need to serve the Nigerian public and that is the mandate that we have,” Ibrahim added.
He also revealed that the sensitization programme would produce a communiqué outlining the resolutions reached and the commitments made by officers to improve their conduct going forward.
According to him, acknowledging existing challenges is the first step toward addressing them.“After this we are supposed to come out with a communiqué in such a way that we have to agree that we have issues and then tackle them as they come and also have a commitment from the staff that we are going to abide by the mandate or carry out our mandate as it is mandated for us to be carried out by the Nigerian government and the public,” he stated.
Also speaking at the event, the Zonal Commanding Officer in charge of Bauchi Zone Command, covering Bauchi, Gombe and Yobe States, Assistant Corps Marshal Mohammad Yakubu, said the gathering provided an opportunity for honest reflection among officers and men of the Corps.
He noted that one of the major concerns identified within the Corps was a lack of professionalism among some personnel, which has negatively affected operations and public perception of the agency.
“The essence of our gathering here is to ensure we tell ourselves the truth, because what we found out, our staff are not displaying professionalism, the main aspect of the job that we are expecting them to display,” he said.
He emphasized that road users and drivers remain critical stakeholders in the Corps’ operations, stressing that FRSC personnel must maintain professionalism at all times while carrying out their duties on the highways.
“The drivers we have on the road as well as road users are our stakeholders. All our aim is to ensure there is free flow of traffic, no crashes recorded and no death or injuries,” he explained.
Yakubu lamented that some officers had engaged in acts of indiscipline, including fighting on the road, which he described as contrary to the core values of the Corps and unacceptable in a disciplined organization.“In doing this, the main thing is to display our professionalism rather than what they do. For their selfish interest and indiscipline, they exhibited to the extent of fighting on the road, which negates the main core values of the Federal Road Safety Corps,” he said.
He added that the Corps leadership considered the situation serious enough to warrant immediate intervention through engagement with staff and commanding officers across the affected commands.
“So in this regard, the Corps Marshal and his management team at the Federal Road Safety Headquarters deem it fit that we should convocate with this staff together with the commanding officers in order to nip this in the bud to tell ourselves the truth,” Yakubu stated.
Yakubu warned that the Corps would no longer tolerate acts of indiscipline among its personnel, stressing that strict measures would be taken against offenders to restore professionalism and order within the organization.
“Henceforth, we shall not take it lightly with anyone that attempts to engage in any form of indiscipline,” he insisted.
