You don't need formal education to be a good driver - FRSC

Mr Chidiebere Nkwonta,Cross River State FRSC Sector Commander

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Cross River has said that to be a good dirver, you need to understand road signs and not necessarily have a formal education or university degree.

Mr Chidiebere Nkwonta, Sector Commander of FRSC in the state said this while interacting with Journalists yesterday in Calabar during the corps road awareness campaign for primary school pupils and students.

Nkwonta who said that the exercise was inline with the 2019 National Road Safety Club Day with the theme "Creating Awareness of Road Safety on Young People" added that the aim was to sensitise and create awareness on the safe use of the road.

He added that FRSC has added a new dimension to the May 27 Children’s Day celebration by creating the road safety awareness programme for the 'catch them young’ category.

According to him, the campaign was part of the strategy to reach out to the young people on the safe use of the road and signs.

In his words, "We believe that we need to teach the young people the tenets of the road by beginning a gradual process of indoctrination so that we can equip them with the road safety culture so that when they grow they will not depart from it.

"We have introduced road safety education into school’s curriculum, starting from the primary to junior secondary school. The National Council on Education approved that road safety should be taught in schools as part of civic education.

"As a follow up to this, we have road safety clubs in schools. We have had them for years now and the focus is on road safety. Our aim is to catch them young, educate them and prepare them to become responsible road users.

"We are creating massive awareness about children road safety education. This is the first of its kind and we are going to have a motor-ride rally with the children".

He said that the corps also has road safety awareness clubs in some schools across the state through the Community Development Service group of National Youth Service Corps members.

"The pilot agents of this programme are the NYSC members. They go to schools every week and sensitise the students on the safe use of the road and signs respectively.

"We are hoping that in the next two years or so, we should have every primary and secondary school in the state having road safety club.

"Once we do this and the awareness is created and a lot of kids are involved, ultimately we will achieve our aim,’’ he added.

Students and pupils were drawn from seven secondary and primary schools in the state for the exercise and  were sensitised on the safe use of the road, how to identity road signs and others.