By Philip Yatai

The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday sensitised catholic priests of Kaduna Arch Diocese on safe driving, in furtherance of public enlightenment campaign to ensure safety roads.

The FRSC Officials, led by the Zonal Corps Commander (ZCO), Mr Ayobami Omiyale sensitised the priest during the Kaduna Arch Diocesan Priest Meeting, at St Paul’s Catholic Church, Karji, Kaduna.

Omiyale explained that the sensitisation was part of the advocacy to religious leaders in Churches and Mosques to enlist the support of the spiritual fathers in creating the needed awareness among worshipers.

He said that the core mandate of the FRSC was to ensure safety of lives and property of road users while driving on the road, through public enlightenment, research and enforcement of traffic rules among others.

He advised the priests to drive cautiously and defensively and anticipate what the drivers beside them, those behind and the ones in front were likely to do.

“This is the catholic church aspect of our advocacy visits and you will agree with me that there is no better forum to reach out to the priests than the meeting of all the Reverence Fathers in Kaduna Arch Diocese.

“The goal is to familiarise ourselves with the priests, pass the safety message for them to help us take the messages to all their members as a prelude to our visit to the individual churches in the state.

“But first the priest must be educated on how to be good road users before they can pass the message to their respective church members,” he added.

The ZCO further said: “The FRSC is leveraging on the influence of the catholic priests as leaders of thousands of people and once the priest has spoken, the people take the messages to heart.

“It is not FRSC officer that is talking to them or a patrol team flagging drivers down to arrest them for one traffic offence or the other; it is a priest, a spiritual father that is talking to his people.

“It is our believe that they will listen and obey, and in the long run, sanity will return to our roads.

“Our next point of call will be to the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Ja’amatul Nasril Islam so as to reach all facet of worshippers in the state.

“If it is only one word that the Imam, catholic priest or a pastor will say about road safety during Jumat Prayers or Church worship, it will go a long way.

“Because that is what will be ringing in the minds of the people when they are driving”.

Omiyale also extended invitation to the priests to join the corps’ Special Marshall with a view to strengthen FRSC public enlightenment and traffic rules enforcement.

Also speaking, the Acting Sector Commander, Kaduna Sector Command, Salisu Galadunci, who spoke on the topic, “Tyre: Your Guarantee to the Next Point”, stressed that hot season is associated with tyre bust.

Galadunci urged the priests to take all necessary tyre measures to state alive, particularly avoiding the use of expired or worn out tyres, over-inflated or under-inflated tyres and other necessary tyre precaution measures.

“People listen to religious leaders which makes them our strong partners in our public enlightenment campaigns,” he said.

The Chairman, Council of Priests of the Arch Diocese, Rev. Father Raymond Nandem, thanked the FRSC for taking time to enlighten them on safe driving skills and measures needed to ensure accident free journey.

Nandem assured the FRSC officials of their interest to join the Special Marshall to contribute their quota in ending road accidents and saving lives.