FG unveils new guidelines for special marshals

The Federal Government has unveiled new guidelines for Special Marshals, an arm of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), to strengthen the operations of the group.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha, unveiled the new guidelines during the 15th National Summit of the Special Marshals on Thursday in Abuja.

Mustapha, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office (GSO) OSGF, Dr Maurice Mbaeri, said the guidelines would also strengthen the group to contribute more to national development.

He said the Federal Government had provided a platform to strengthen road traffic legislation and enhanced the regulation of activities of road safety in Nigeria.

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He said the job of road safety was everybody’s responsibility, and that the Federal Government alone could not do it.

He added that Special Marshals were encouraged to key into this to ensure the safety of motorists and users of Nigerian roads.

“Most of the mishaps happen in the state so the states need to key into this effectively to ensure the safety of all road users at all times.

“The project of volunteerism is natural in the sense that it is purely to ensure the safety of Nigerians on the roads. So it is not a political issue or partisan in nature.

“It is devoid of tribalism, religion. It is highly spirited individuals who volunteer to educate people in the area of advocacy on-road usage.

“And to also ensure travellers understand the signs and signal on-road usage,” he said.

The Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, said the revised special marshals’ guideline was structured and streamlined to address some of the identified gaps in the previous one in order to ignite fresh steam for the leadership to run on.

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He said the activities of special marshals were centred on advocacy, support, participation in traffic control, rescue and enforcement.

He urged them to continue to strive to shield themselves from political and business motivation within the volunteer arm.

He said it was necessary to sustain the spirit of volunteerism that had kept the arm soaring in the past 33 years and being reputed to be the largest volunteer arm of any road safety agency in Africa.

He said the new guidelines made provisions for the appointment of the national coordinator, instead of being elected.

“This is to ensure that we insulate the volunteers from any political interference because they are volunteers and the principles of volunteerism must remain.

“However, there are other issues there when it comes to disciplinary measures. If you want to be a special marshal, you must set yourself aside from anything that will embarrass the government.

“This is because legally, special marshals are a part of the corps and the corps is paramilitary, and if there is a volunteer from the paramilitary organisation you must not embark on anything that will embarrass the government. (NAN)