Following his appointment by the President, Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic, as the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC on 11th June, 2007, Osita Chidoka has left no one in doubt of his vision and disposition towards aligning the Federal Road Safety Commission to conform with the vision 2020 of the Federal Government as well as the Seven-Point Agenda of Mr. President.

In the last one year, media reports about the activities of the FRSC have indicated that the FRSC Corps Marshal has taken giant strides not only to redefine the scope of road traffic administration and road safety management in the country, he has also taken this beyond the national boundaries.

For instance realizing the importance of regional co-operation in driving home the road safety message and in line with ECOWAS sub-regional socio-economic integration programmes, he has been vigorously pursuing the institutionalization of the Nigerian-type road safety lead agency model in the West Africa sub-region.

This is being done through the platform of the West African Road Safety Organization, WARSO, of which the Corps Marshal is the current President. He is also the President of the African Group of the International Road Safety Organization (PRI).

On assumption of duties, one of the challenges he met on ground, as reported, was low staff morale due to diminishing returns, hence he ensured an immediate stoppage of some of the deductions from staff salaries while staff were paid all the arrears of the said deductions. As a matter of fact, it is instructive to note that FRSC was among the first paramilitary organizations in the country to effect the payment of the Consolidated Paramilitary Salary Structure.

The Corps Marshal has also embarked on systematic training programmes with the required intellectual and regimental contents for staff development. For instance, senior and middle level officers are now being sent for one course or the other both locally and overseas as part of a vigorous capacity building strategy for staff. Officers of the Superintendent Route Commander and Chief Route Commander cadres are currently undergoing Intermediate Leadership Routine Course at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Mountain School, Shere Hills, Jos, Plateau State while there is also high level training and staff exchange programmes with sister organizations in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada among a host of others.

The present leadership of the FRSC has institutionalized promotion examination as a prerequisite for staff career movement and progression while civil and para-military courses that consolidate institutional discipline, build leadership and ensure cohesion which had hitherto remained the exclusive preserve of a few privileged staff are now open to all and sundry.

Osita Chidoka, in his bid to redefine road safety management in Nigeria, has placed a great premium on the restoration of the integrity of the drivers’ license which has gained international recognition and is a source of vital information for national security and nation building. He has cleaned up the database and generated new data of about 2.4 million records which have been uploaded on to the FRSC website for online license verification.

He has also eased administrative procedures by introducing cutting edge technology in the house-keeping function of the commands with the installation of V-sat in the twelve zonal commands. He also approved the release of one million naira per quarter to the zonal commands so as to reduce the turn around time for vehicle maintenance and other petty projects handled by the field commands.

According to the Corps Marshal the present leadership hinges its administration on people, process and technology based on the understanding that if the human capital is deployed in the appropriate mix, coupled with due process and information, then the way would be paved for high results and achievements.

No doubt, Osita Chidoka is a radiant specie of the emerging young, vibrant and knowledge-driven cream of Nigerian leaders. He deserves the encouragement and support of all and sundry. Definitely, he is a man that has a date with history.