The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday, announced that it had concluded arrangements for the take-off of its “Traffic Radio Station’’ to aid traffic regulation in the country.
Public Education Officer of the corps, Mr Bisi Kazeem, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the station would commence operations before the end of March 2019, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Kazeem said that all procurement processes for the station had been concluded, adding that necessary equipment had been ordered and that training of personnel for the job was ongoing.
He said that the Presidency’s approval of the broadcast licence, which was issued to the corps by National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in 2018, hastened preparation for the take-off of the station.
“The station promises to be target-driven,’’ he said, explaining that its primary aim was to reach out to a wider public on safe driving through enlightenment programmes.
According to Kazeem, the station is targeted at creating a safety-conscious generation of road users and it is also billed to inform the public about real-time traffic situations on the roads.
He said that the station would complement existing strategies deployed towards crash-reduction and safer roads for all.
The spokesman said that when transmission from the station would cover FCT and environs, adding that applications that could be used to listen to the radio broadcast anywhere in the world would be developed.
“When the station takes off, it is expected to broadcast in five languages – English, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa and Pidgin.’’
He reaffirmed that the corps had put in place measures to curb offences by motorists and other road users.
Kazeem said that the measures included the establishment of “Cobra Operation’’ which frowned at offences as dangerous driving, use of phone while driving, light violation, seatbelt violation and route violation.
He reiterated that part of sanctions of traffic offenders was emotional and stability test in a government-owned hospital before paying the fine for the offence committed.