By Femi Ogunshola
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it will soon commence the enforcement of a uniform colour for school buses in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mr Gora Wobin, the FRSC, FCT Sector Commander, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja, during a stakeholders town hall meeting with school proprietors.
The town hall meeting was organised by the Lugbe unit command, of the FRSC, headed by its commander, Mr Ameen Adewale.
Wobin said that the move became necessary for easy identification of school buses by the FRSC, adding that it will augur well for proprietors to paint their school buses in the approved colour.
“The fact that we have not enforce it does not mean we are not going to do it, the information has been in public domain since 2014,” he said.
According to him, there is a prototype of the colour in the headquarters of the FRSC, while advising them to check in order to be sure of the approved colour.
He said that identification of school buses was keyed, noting that the FRSC had had to intercept a bus with kidnapped school children, with the driver claiming they were going on excursion.
The sector commander added that if it were to be a uniform coloured bus, the corps would have been able to detect immediately.
He then urged the proprietors to ensure a uniform colour for their school busses.
“It is advisable for all our school buses to be painted in an approved school colour, it is a law and a regulation by the government and must be obeyed,” he said.
He said that rather than use force, the FRSC had embraced dialogue with school owners to paint their busses in the approved colour.
Wobin said that this would go a long way to help in ensuring that any school bus driver caught flouting the law, could be allowed to go and drop the children off and then arrested soon after.
He however said that if school proprietors had any strong reasons why the law must not be implemented, they were free to write to the appropriate authority.
According to him, there is an urgent need for proprietors to also install speed limit devices in all their school buses.
He explained that the speed limit device would help to reduce the wear and tear of the vehicles, and also help to conserve fuel consumption.
”It is a must for these proprietors to install the speed limit device,” he said.
Wobin noted that some of the drivers of these buses do not obey traffic rules, warnng that such act will no longer be tolerated.
The New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that one of the concerns raised by the proprietors included the slashing of the cost of the speed limit device.
They also pleaded with the FRSC to ensure it organised periodic workshop for their drivers, as it would assist them in doing the right thing.
The school proprietors present at the meeting included Tithemi International School, AYES school, Diamond Standard Basic School and Britarch Montessori School, Lugbe, among others. (NAN)
