Economic council endorses national road safety strategy

ITRealms:

… As Nigeria loses 3% GDP to road crashes

The National Economic Council has endorsed the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS), just as the nation lost three per cent of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to road traffic crashes, reports ITRealms.

Affirming this to ITRealms, the Corps Marshal, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said in Lagos, weekend that strategy comprises having a National Road Safety Advisory Council (NaRSAC) to oversee the implementation of the NRSS under the Chairmanship of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

As said by Oyeyemi, the structure of the road safety management would include state governors as members in addition to members drawn from stakeholders while the office of the corps marshal would act as the secretary to the council.

He explained that the NRSS vision is to enthrone Nigeria as country where Road Traffic Crash (RTC) results in no death with a goal of reduction in road traffic crash fatality rate by 35 per cent by 2018.

The purpose, he said, is to widely adopt safe system approach to road safety management in Nigeria, develop and utilize standard templates to capture and report relevant traffic data, as well as implement design standards for all road types.

NRSS, Oyeyemi said, has the mandate to expand the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme (RTSSS) to cover all commercial vehicles that ply interstate roads, develop and implement awareness campaigns on proper road use in addition to providing supplementary medical equipment and emergency rescue ambulances, among others.

Further, he said, NRSS would work on setting standard National Road Safety Strategy target(s) by ensuring co-ordination between Federal, States and Local Governments in achieving Road Safety targets.

In driving the implementation of the NRSS, FRSC is expected to request for progress reports from relevant agencies, invite them to defend proposed activities and road safety efforts on a quarterly basis, evaluate of outcomes of National road safety initiatives, develop a funding plan for strategic initiatives and seek fund for the implementation of strategic initiatives, endorse disbursement of pre-approved funds for strategic initiatives and monitoring of funds disbursement for strategic initiatives, to name a few.

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Buhari promises sustainable initiatives, inaugurates NEC

ITRealms:

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, inaugurated the National Economic Council (NEC) in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, just as he reiterated his administration resolve to enthrone sustainable initiatives, reports ITRealms.

According to the Third Schedule, Part I, Section 153: Sub section (18 & 19) of the Constitution, ITRealms reports that NEC, act as one of the Federal Executive bodies, mandated to advise the President concerning the economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the co-ordination of the economic planning and programmes of the various Governments of the Federation.

Buhari also named his Vice President, Prof. Yomi Osibanjo as the chairman of NEC, adding that NEC meetings have remained the official economic platform for dialogue among the 36 State Governors, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and other co-opted members.

He also noted that NEC chaired by the Vice President deals on issues and challenges facing the development of the country, at national and sub-national levels, and discussed with a view to develop and harmonize common strategies for addressing them.

Buhari pointed out that during his inaugural speech, on May 29, 2015 he stated that the primary objective of this Administration is to tackle insecurity; youth unemployment, through the revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining, as well as small and medium size businesses.

“I also highlighted pervasive corruption; fuel and power shortages; public service reforms; and the need to allow every tier of Government to exercise its constitutional responsibilities, among others. We are fully committed to embarking on sustainable visionary initiatives and programmes that will restructure and transform our national economy.”

His administration, Buhari said is also committed to ensuring collaboration and facilitation of the international efforts to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), financial crimes, cybercrimes, climate change; the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21st century.

Equally, he urged Nigerians to ensure that the nation surmounts these enormous challenges facing the country by working to support economic policies, which the government will soon unveil to grow the economy and finance external promises.

Consequently, he said, leadership must kick-start this process by cultivating a culture of prudent management of resources at all levels of government. This will entail looking inwards to secure sustainable ways of increasing Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); and harnessing growth potentials of each State to supplement the Federation Account allocation to States. 

“The States are also encouraged to embark on projects that will meet immediate needs of the people taking account of available resources. I therefore urge Council members to consider, as a matter of urgency, exploring efficient means of gradually liquidating all unpaid salaries of staff, which have brought untold hardship to thousands of families,” he said.

All revenue generating agencies such as Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) amongst others shall comply with stipulated Financial Regulations and Administrative Instructions in their remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

 
Chuks Egbuna/GEE
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