) The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, has tasked senior officers of the corps to lead strategically, proactively and remain open to learning new things.
Mohammed gave the charge on Monday in Abuja, at a capacity building workshop organised by the corps for it’s senior personnel.
The workshop has as theme “Strategy for Command Responsibility and Enhancing Road Safety in Nigeria”.
The corps marshal noted that leadership required strategic thinking, continuous learning, courage, discipline and the capacity to anticipate challenges.
He said the workshop came at a critical time when effective leadership required more than experience.
“We must constantly sharpen our skills, renew our commitment and prepare ourselves to lead the FRSC into the future.
“The road safety environment in Nigeria is increasingly complex, with population growth, urbanisation, expanding vehicle population, changing mobility patterns, technological advancement and evolving public expectations presenting new challenges.
“These realities demand leadership that is proactive rather than reactive, innovative rather than conventional, and focused on results rather than routine.
“Our responsibility as the high command is therefore to provide clear direction, strengthen systems, deploy resources wisely and ensure that every decision we take produces measurable improvement in road safety,” he said.
The corps marshal described command responsibility as a “sacred trust” that required accountability, professionalism, discipline and an unwavering commitment to national interest.
“We must move beyond responding to incidents and develop the capacity to anticipate risks, identify trends and act before challenges become crises.
“Every command must have clear objectives, measurable targets and a culture of performance. Our plans must not remain on paper; they must translate into action, and our actions must translate into results,” he also said.
Mohammed noted that road safety could not be achieved through enforcement alone, as it needed partnerships with governments, security and emergency agencies, transport unions, professional bodies, the private sector, civil society, development partners and the media.
He added that authority must always be exercised with professionalism, fairness, courtesy and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
According to him, public confidence is not demanded; it is earned through the way we serve.
He emphasised that the future of road safety was increasingly data-driven, technology-enabled and innovation-led, adding that it underscored the need to embrace technology.
He said the corps would embrace technology that improved enforcement, traffic management, emergency response, information management, data analytics and decision-making.
He added however that technology was only an enabler and that the real strength of the FRSC remained its people.
“We must build competent, disciplined and motivated teams, invest in professional development, mentor the next generation of leaders and create an institutional culture where excellence is expected and responsibility is owned.
The FRSC boss said that the workshop should therefore be more than a gathering of senior officers or an academic exercise, but a moment of reflection, renewal and transformation.
He urged every participant to engage fully, challenge assumptions, share experiences and learn from both successes and shortcomings.
“Let us ask ourselves three simple but important questions: Where are we today? Where do we want the corps to be? And what must each of us do to take it there?,” he said.
He expressed optimism that officers would leave with renewed clarity of purpose and a stronger determination to translate strategic thinking into operational excellence, and operational excellence into safer roads and saved lives.
“Every policy we formulate, command decision we take, enforcement action we undertake and partnership we build must serve one overriding objective, the preservation of lives on Nigerian roads.
“Let this be a turning point in how we lead, command and deliver. Let us build a corps that does not merely respond to road safety challenges, but anticipates them.
“Corps that does not merely enforce the law, but inspires compliance; and whose leadership is measured not by the authority it exercises, but by the lives it saves and the difference it makes,” he emphasised.
The corps marshal charged personnel of the FRSC to lead with vision, serve with integrity, act with courage and deliver with purpose to make the corps stronger, smarter, more professional and more responsive.
“Let us remember that leadership is not a position, it is a responsibility; command is not a privilege, it is a trust; and road safety is not merely our mandate, it is our national duty,” he stressed.(NAN)
