The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has trained driving school proprietors and instructors from five states, aiming to strengthen road safety standards and reduce crashes across Nigeria.
Speaking at the 2025 National Workshop for Driving School Proprietors and Instructors in Port Harcourt, Corps Marshal Shehu Muhammed, represented by Assistant Corps Marshal Henry Benemesia, emphasized the need for renewed strategies to tackle the persistent challenge of road accidents.
He said the two-day workshop is part of FRSC’s broader push to raise the quality of driver education and improve safety on the roads through better training, awareness, and compliance.
According to him, the training covers participants from Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Imo states.
He also lauded the Driving School initiative as a comprehensive framework to improve the quality, uniformity and integrity of driving nationwide.
The FRSC boss, however, expressed worries over significant gaps impeding smooth outcome of the driving schools initiative in the country.
“Despite efforts to improve the driving culture and promote safety on our roads, some driving schools have continued to cut corners, prioritising profit over safety.
“Some of them are still struggling to attain necessary operational standards, regulatory compliance, overcome infrastructure deficiencies and provide professional development for instructors.
“We will nevertheless, continue to ensure an improved compliance with minimum operational standards and a more structured and credible licensing process,” he said.
Earlier, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, Rivers Sole Administrator, commended the FRSC for the training and pledged the state’s support for road safety policies.
“We are committed to supporting all initiatives that promotes safety on our roads. This we will achieve through legislations, infrastructural investments or policy reforms.
“Considering that transportation safety is not mere technicality but a moral imperative, we urge operators of driving schools to also instill morals on would-be drivers,” Ibas said
Mr Ahmed Mamuda, State Commander, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), stressed the need for driving schools and drivers license issuers to collaborate with the agency
Mamuda, who was represented by Mrs Grace Adeniyi, State Deputy Commander Narcotics, said that the collaboration would further clarify issues bordering on sanity of drivers.
“We must ensure that licenses are not issued to drug dependant drivers, this can be achieved through collaboration with the NDLEA,” she said.
