On May 22, 2024, President Bola Tinubu, in exercising his constitutional powers, appointed then Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Shehu Mohammed as the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). He took over from Dauda Biu who was appointed December, 2022.
In a statement announcing the appointment, Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (AGF), Segun Imohiosen, stated that the appointment is for an initial period of four years with effect from May 20.
The federal government statement clearly stated that “President Tinubu tasks the appointee to bring his wealth of experience to bear in his new assignment.”
The tasks before the new FRSC boss are enormous. Ranging from staff welfare, bribe taking by personnel on the roads, stagnation in career progression, hitches on drivers licence processing among others.
Unlike before, it is now very common to see men of the FRSC collecting bribe from motorists on the highway and even within the cities.
Aside this, these men are sometimes also seen on the inner streets of the cities flagging down vehicles to check particulars and in the process causing traffic snarl. The new FRSC boos needs to check this.
CM Shehu Mohammed also need to work closely with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in order to boast the welfare packages of staff, as well as work out modalities to remove the bottlenecks stagnating career progression in the service. Importantly, the issue of issuance of drivers licence without hitches need to be looked at.
We are impressed that the CM has already taken up the issue of drivers licence when it was stated recently that “Owing to the strategic intervention mechanisms introduced towards clearing the backlogs of the National Drivers License (NDL) by the Corps Marshal, FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, the National Drivers License Print Farm has produced 73,740 licenses in two weeks”.
We are also impressed that the CMC has sustained the initiative of his predecessor, by strengthening the joint task force against carrying of passengers with trucks.
