..:: AUTO REPORT AFRICA ::..
Related Articles
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has thrown its weight behind the policy of speed regulation in Nigeria, saying it also supports all other safety policies aimed at creating safer road environment in the country.
Speaking at the end of the interactive session held between the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi and the Chief Executives of the Major Oil Marketers in Nigeria, the Executive Secretary of the Association, Femi Olawore, stated that the commitment of the Association to the policy on speed regulation arose out of the need to join hands in creating safer road environment.
Olawore commended the FRSC for its aggressive campaign against road carnage, noting that members of the Association are well mobilised to support the FRSC in its awareness creation on speed related crashes, which assumed worrisome dimension in the last few years.
According to him, the Association will support the FRSC to sustain the campaign because it is equally committed to issues of road safety, which he said is central to the success of their operations. “We stand by the FRSC in this campaign and other road safety initiatives which the Corps Marshal has been engaging us,” he stated.
“As you can see, all the Chief Executives of oil major Marketers operating in the country were either present at the meeting or well represented. That shows the level of commitment of the members to issues of road safety as is being driven by the FRSC.
“We must join hands to protect the road and those that use it for various socio-economic activities for the collective prosperity of all Nigerians.”
In his presentation, the Corps Marshal who commended members of the Major Oil Marketers for always observing minimum safety standards in their vehicles, disclosed that even before the stakeholders came up with the idea of speed limiters, they had already keyed into the safety requirement by installing speed limiting devices in their vehicles.
According to him, their adherence to the basic safety rules such as installation of safety valves and speed limiting devices in their tankers has saved the nation unnecessary loss through oil spillage and destruction associated with the carnage as witnessed in other similar crashes involving marketers that compromise the standards.
Oyeyemi further stated that the interactive session with the Chief Executives of the Major Oil Marketers was in continuation of his initiative of taking the road safety campaign by the FRSC to the door steps of the relevant stakeholders, pointing out that the Corps is impressed with the various safety measures they have taken to prevent crashes affecting their fleet of vehicles.
“I am aware of the various safety measures that members of the Association have taken to deal with safety of their vehicles, including the installation of the speed limiting devices.
“But there is the need for all us to be on the same page in terms of information on those your vehicles that have been installed with the speed limiting devices before the commencement of enforcement to avoid hiccups as the enforcement would be based on e-ticketing and use of tablets which would identify vehicles that have not offloaded their compliance status on the portal,” Oyeyemi further stated.
In their various contributions, members of the Association expressed solidarity with the ongoing road safety campaign by the FRSC, saying it is creating enormous awareness to road users. They however expressed the need for the Federal Government to rehabilitate the dilapidated roads across the country, fix the depots and the railways in order to reduce pressure on the roads. They further suggested that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) should engage other oil markers to make transition to rail transportation of the products smooth.
In his own contribution, the Director of Operations of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Niyi Alli, who made a presentation at the meeting, analysed the efforts being made by the Corporation to decongest the road through the use of railways to transport the petroleum products. He noted that when fully operational, the rail system would be a great boost to road safety campaign in the country, saying crashes involving trains are not as common as other means of transportation.
The meeting which further agreed on the need to sustain the consultation with other stakeholders and extend the campaign to all levels of road users in the countdown to the April 1st enforcement date of the policy, had representatives of Conoil, TOTAL, OANDO, MRS, FORTE OIL and MOBIL in attendance.
Also in attendance were the Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Command Administration and Strategy, Austin Aipoh, from the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja as well as the Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Motor Vehicle Administration, Hyginus Foumsuk , among others. (FRSC NEWS)
