2 weeks Ago By THEWILL
April 05, (THEWILL) – When Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed was appointed as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on May 20, 2024, he announced during his maiden address to the personnel of the National Headquarters, Abuja, after his formal decoration by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, that his Management will be anchored on Six Policy Thrusts. One of these was training and retraining the personnel to align with realistic expectations, which has turned out to be the bedrock of his Management’s modernisation programme. The choice of training as the centre point of Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed’s development agenda was borne out of his conviction that for an effective modernisation program in the FRSC to be actualised, the available human capacity must be sufficiently developed to be able to effectively utilise the available tools to achieve the desired goals.
Moreover, as an elite organisation built on the ingredients of education, science and technological tools, there was no better way to improve FRSC’s processes than through continuous improvements in its systems, such that people can learn new ideas, unlearn obsolete ones and relearn what research has proved to be true and worthwhile despite the initial scepticism. That’s why the Shehu Mohammed-led Management embraced right from the onset the need to prepare the skills, recreate the consciousness and refocus the visions of the personnel through the instrumentality of knowledge that training provides. Thus, from the Management staff undergoing high strategic training sessions to sharpen their intellectual capability and change their perceptions about issues to departmental and professional-based reeducation programmes as well as general awareness creation initiatives among the personnel at all levels, there has not been a dull moment for all personnel of the Corps since the emergence of this Management last year.
As a unit Commander then serving in Lagos, I had the privilege of joining other Commanding Officers from across the country to participate in a three-day reorientation programme for Commanding Officers which took place at the FRSC Academy Udi, Enugu State, in August last year, courtesy of the new beginning by the Management. For an organisation which had no scheduled programme of orientation for its newly appointed Commanding Officers to enable the participants to have proper induction of what’s expected of them in their new command positions, that programme was an eye-opener for the majority of the Commanders who were meeting themselves for the first time after over 10 to 15 years since their basic training programmes. Outside the benefits of listening to the carefully selected resource persons from among the serving and retired senior officers who came to share their experiences, the fact of coursemates reuniting to compare notes at the Academy and reliving old memories evidently lifted the moods of everyone who participated.
Meanwhile, the harmony created by that platform and the entrenchment of the spirit of unity among the personnel was, in fact, unquantifiable. For the avoidance of doubt, training and training-related capacity-building programs organised by Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed’s leadership since his emergence as the head of Nigeria’s lead agency for road traffic management and safety administration led to a situation whereby within 4 months of his assumption of office, 341 Unit Commanders, 415 Road Marshal Assistants, 700 drivers, 90 monitoring and evaluation officers and 100 junior officers had undergone various training programmes in different locations across the country. Further to this, a workshop on the theme “Emerging Issues in Financial Reporting Framework and Regulatory Compliance” was held for Accountants and Auditors of the Corps on the 3rd of October, 2024, in Abuja to bring these very important professionals at par with the Management’s vision.
In addition, a capacity building training on the theme: “Giving Corporate Image a Boost”: A capacity building training on strategic communication and public speaking techniques for some Personnel of the Corps was held on the 17th of October, 2024 in Abuja, while a two-day workshop on the theme “Retooling FRSC for Organisational Effectiveness: From Policy Formulation to Strategic Implementation for the Management Team and Zonal Commanding Officers” was organised in collaboration with Alnas Consulting Ltd on the 5th of November, 2024 in Abuja. In continuation of its aggressive commitment to getting the human capacity stocked in the FRSC trained for its modernisation programme, a morale-boosting and soul-reflecting walking and jogging exercise for the promotion of teamwork, fitness and camaraderie among management and staff was held on the 9th of November, 2024, in Abuja. Further to this, a four-day intensive training program to enhance the capacity of FRSC’s intelligence gathering and analysis for Marshal Intelligence Operatives was held from 18 -21 November 2024, at the Marshals Inspectorate Training School, Owa-Alero, Delta State.
At the departmental level, a workshop on the theme: “Conduct of Security Threat and Risk Assessment for Success in FRSC Programs” was organised by the Corps Public Education Office on the 4th of December, 2024, in Abuja. In addition, a training program on the theme: “Enhancing Professionalism, Courtesy and Public Relations Excellence” workshop aimed at enhancing the skills of the staff of the Corps Intelligence, Corps Provost and Corps Protocol Offices was organised on the 1st of March, 2025 at the FRSC National Headquarters, Abuja. At the highest strategic level, a workshop on transforming Transportation transmission on the theme: “Driving Change, Delivering Solutions” was organised by the World Bank at the World Bank Corporate Headquarters, Washington DC, United States of America on the 11th of March 2025 had the Corps Marshal and the head of the Corps Information and Technology Office (CITO) in attendance.
Still on effective data collection, collation and analysis for the integrity of data presented by the FRSC, a workshop on Data Analysis and Visualisation using Tableau was flagged off by the Corp Marshal on 18 March 2025, in Abuja while a workshop themed “Security of Documents” was organised by the Corps Intelligence Office for some selected participants on the 21st of March, 2025 in Abuja. Meanwhile, in pursuit of effectiveness in communication skills by its personnel who serve as official public communicators to members of the public, the Corps Public Education Office organised a Retreat themed “Strategies for Enhancing Productivity: Achieving the Corps Public Education Office 2025 Strategic Initiatives” on the 4th of April, 2025, in Abuja. As staff look forward to more training and capacity development programs which have been carefully planned for this year and beyond by this reform-based Management, there’s no doubt that the FRSC personnel at all levels are experiencing positive changes in their mental, physical and psychological capabilities which will guide them to the desired ends in the FRSC.
The Nigerian road travellers and the public at large would undoubtedly become the ultimate beneficiaries of this leadership foresight being driven by the man whose accounting professionalism has continued to draw applause and recognition from the various professional accounting and other bodies that he belongs to. ***Written by DCC Sani Abdullahi Abdullahi is the Deputy Corps Commander in charge of Strategy in the office of the Corps Marshal.
