Yuletide: Oyo State collaborates with FRSC to address traffic challenges

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said his administration would continue to cooperate with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to address traffic challenges that impact the state and its environs.

The governor, who described the cooperation as a good development and a step in the right direction, made the disclosure at the State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, on Wednesday, when he received the top echelon of the FRSC, led by its Corps Marshall, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, who paid him a courtesy visit.

Makinde, who addressed journalists in company of the Corps Marshal and other officers of the FRSC, said it is important for states to collaborate with the Federal Government and federal agencies in order to resolve issues that affect their local environments.

He stated: “Road safety actually started in Oyo State, so we can take ownership. But today, they are a federal agency and we are talking about issues and challenges that impact our local environment. It is one of the hallmarks of that type of cooperation for the federal government, federal agency and state government coming together to resolve such issues.”

Earlier, the FRSC Corps Marshal, who indicated that the agency was in Oyo State for a review of the agency’s road traffic plan for the Yuletide, with the governor, assured the governor that with the structure already put in place by the agency, there would be smooth flow of traffic during the festive period and urged residents to comply with traffic regulations.

Oyeyemi noted: “We have deployed some more vehicles to the state, we have opened more unit commands, the Iseyin Unit Command has been opened. So we have more commands within the state, not only in Ibadan. Some of the commands within the fringes of the state like Egbeda, we’ve provided new vehicles for them because this is a partnership between me and His Excellency to further improve road safety administration.”

The Corps Marshal disclosed that he received a lot of cheery news about the bypass from the Lagos to Ibadan-Ife road and other road infrastructural projects going on in the state, which should be completed before the end of 2022 and would take traffic gridlock off the urbanised areas within the state.

He further noted that he was in Ibadan to brief the governor on the efforts made by the FRSC within Oyo State and the fringes of the state in terms of road traffic management for the yuletide, noting that the agency is working with all other stakeholders

“We are working with the Nigerian Police Force, NSCDC and the Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency. With what we have put in place, I want to assure His Excellency that people will not experience much of this gridlock. What is required is for people to comply with traffic rules and regulations,” he disclosed.

Concerning the rehabilitation work on the Ibadan- Ife road, the Corps Marshal revealed that the traffic density is more than what it was before, urging people to be patient until the completion of the road.

Emmanuel Ukoh