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| Prof. Wole Soyinka |
I wish to make a call for naming/renaming of the Headquarters of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Abuja after the Nobel Laurette, Professor Wole Soyinka.
FRSC Headquarters in Abuja should be named "Wole Soyinka House" in honour of the man who privately and individually initiated Road Transport Management in Ibadan, Oyo State, because he was concerned with the recurring road accidents in the country, especially in Ibadan then, without any motive to make profit whatsoever; thereby making his idea to give birth to FRSC, which also prompted the former military President, Ibrahim Babangida in 1988 to appoint him as the pioneer Corps Marshal and Chairman of FRSC Board.
FRSC Headquarters in Abuja should be named "Wole Soyinka House" in honour of the man who privately and individually initiated Road Transport Management in Ibadan, Oyo State, because he was concerned with the recurring road accidents in the country, especially in Ibadan then, without any motive to make profit whatsoever; thereby making his idea to give birth to FRSC, which also prompted the former military President, Ibrahim Babangida in 1988 to appoint him as the pioneer Corps Marshal and Chairman of FRSC Board.
The then military president Babangida thought it expedient that Prof. Soyinka pioneer FRSC because he sold the idea to him.
FRSC was Prof. Soyinka's brainchild.
Babangida sat down with Prof. Soyinka to deliberate if Kongi could replicate nationwide, the programme he was already doing so well in Ibadan; Kongi, as he is fondly called, assured him it was doable throughout the country. FRSC started from there, and the University don positioned the institution to the envy of all others in existence then.
Babangida sat down with Prof. Soyinka to deliberate if Kongi could replicate nationwide, the programme he was already doing so well in Ibadan; Kongi, as he is fondly called, assured him it was doable throughout the country. FRSC started from there, and the University don positioned the institution to the envy of all others in existence then.
A copious example of my call is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Headquarters in Abuja, it is called "Yakubu Gowon House", named after the then military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, because he initiated the scheme and it commenced during his regime. So also the Police Headquarters in Abuja called "Louis Edet House", named after IGP Louis Edet (Retd), the first indigenous Inspector General of Police in Nigeria; to mention but a few.
Honouring our heroes and heroines who helped built our heritage is very germane, and has a way of shaping our existence.
You will agree with me that the FRSC today is one of the institutions making waves and impacts in Nigeria. Through FRSC, high rate of lawlessness on Nigerian highways and lots of avoidable road accidents have been drastically reduced to their bearest minimum. We can only hope the government will compliment these by constructing good roads so that avoidable loss of lives due to road accidents will be drastically reduced.
You will agree with me that the FRSC today is one of the institutions making waves and impacts in Nigeria. Through FRSC, high rate of lawlessness on Nigerian highways and lots of avoidable road accidents have been drastically reduced to their bearest minimum. We can only hope the government will compliment these by constructing good roads so that avoidable loss of lives due to road accidents will be drastically reduced.
A "nomenclatural reappellation" of the FRSC headquarter after Kongi will not be too much. It will in fact be a right step in the right direction.
Prof. Soyinka, a benevolent and seasoned don, is undoubtedly the architect of disciplined and positioned FRSC.
Prof. Soyinka, a benevolent and seasoned don, is undoubtedly the architect of disciplined and positioned FRSC.
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