Ex-FRSC Boss Laments Lose of Lives To Avoidable Crashes

A former corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and current president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, says Nigeria is still losing lives to road crashes that could have been avoided.

In a telephone conversation yesterday, Oyeyemi described the toll as “needless road deaths” that “continue to claim lives across the country each year” and leaves families shattered.

He admitted that there’s been “real, measurable, documented progress” since the 1987 crash peak, but insisted the gains fall short for a country with Nigeria’s population and traffic volume

Oyeyemi said these preventable deaths are now “undermining national development.” His fix: a stable, long-term national auto policy instead of one that changes with every government.

Commenting on CILT’s 30th anniversary celebration that ended recently, Oyeyemi urged leaders to stop “wasting time in the development of policy that changes with every administration” and copy models from South Africa, Morocco, and Ethiopia. These countries, he said, show what sustained policy can do for the motoring sector.

He averred that Nigeria’s auto manufacturing remains “embryonic and dependent on imported vehicles,” with the National Automotive Industry Development Plan “constructed and reconstructed multiple times without producing the sustained industrial momentum that Nigeria needs.” CILT, he added, has pushed this same message for 30 years.

With 240 million people, Oyeyemi said Nigeria is one of Africa’s biggest auto markets, arguing that investing in local assembly, components, aftermarket services and EV infrastructure would reduce import dependence and create jobs.