February 20, (THEWILL) – Not until last week Wednesday and Thursday when Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, took his road safety campaign to Sokoto State, the city of the Sultanate, many people wouldn’t know why he always referred to the State as his second home. Like the successive Corps Marshals before him, the Sultanate state is viewed with reference and high esteem in view of its legendary Islamic influence and agricultural productivity.
Thus, after several rescheduling of the visit, both the Governor of the State, Dr Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, gave their nods for Thursday, February 14, 2025, at different times of the day as when they will receive the Corps Marshal both in the palace and at the Government House. To meet with the appointments, therefore, Corps Marshal Shehu and his entourage set out for the fifty minutes flight journey from Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, and despite some minutes flight delays touched down at Sadiq Abubakar III international airport, Sokoto, some minutes before 4 o’clock.
As the Corps Marshal stepped onto the airport tarmac, he was met with the smart welcome salute of the Zonal Commanding Officer of FRSC Zone 10 Headquarters Sokoto, Assistant Corps Marshal Ali Baba, who was accompanied on the welcome party by all the three component Sector Commanders of Zamfara, Kebbi and the host State of Sokoto. And in solidarity with the host Commanding Officers, all the service Chiefs in the state and some executive members of the Special Marshals of the Zone sandwiched the principal vehicle with their service vehicles after the brief airport ceremony and drove the August visitor in a motorcade to the Sokoto State Sector Command, where a quarter guard and parade have already been formed by the expectant staff of both the zone and Sector commands waiting for review by the Corps Marshal.
After about a 10-minute drive from the airport, the Corps Marshal’s vehicle stopped right in front of the Quarter Guard, which he inspected in line with regimental tradition of arms presentation and Corps Marshal’s salute. The August visitor thereafter went to the file formed by the principal officers of the Command where they were introduced to him before going to address the main parade which consisted smartly dressed Officers and Marshals, Special Marshals and members of the Road Safety Club command who showed how prepared they were to receive the popular Corps Marshal they have all heard so much about and whose impacts they have individually felt in various ways.
As the Corps Marshal was addressing the obviously excited staff, one could see the eagerness and hope clearly written on their faces, manifesting in their intermittent applauses whenever the Corps Marshal made any pronouncement that reflected their expectations. Issues such as staff welfare, regular promotion and conducive working and living conditions for staff which the Corps Marshal made policy pronouncement on clearly reflected their expectations as they gave deafening applause each time he mentioned any of such popular topics among the staff.
Shortly after the regimental parade which ended with Three Hearty Cheers to the Corps Marshal, he was ushered into the Command’s conference hall where stakeholders had gathered to receive him. His messages at the consultative forum with the road safety stakeholders comprising the entire motor transport unions in the state were centred on the shared nature of road traffic management and need for joint efforts to address the menace of road traffic crashes in the state.
Interestingly, all those that spoke at the forum were unanimous on the need for all to collaborate with the FRSC and agreed with the Corps Marshal to step up their efforts while recommitting to sustained campaign against the menace of road traffic crashes in the state.
Shortly after the consultative forum, and despite already exhausting his messages to the staff at the regimental parade, the obviously excited personnel were determined to maximise the benefits of their physical meeting with the Corps Marshal under a non regimental atmosphere and, therefore, insisted on interactive session with him, which the Corps Marshal graciously obliged out of his love for them. Accordingly, he sat freely and patiently listened to the issues they brought up to his attention, and one after the other, he exhausted all by reiterating his earlier messages on staff welfare, discipline, justice and increased productivity among staff. Further to this, all those staff with career issues were given instant solutions while those that required further clarification enjoyed the authentic information and background from the FRSC’s number one Marshal.
The end of the interactive session was immediately followed by the facility tour of the command where the Corps Marshal was shown the ongoing projects at the command, including the Number plates replacement centre where the Corps Marshal promised to enunciate measures that could lead to the resuscitation of the plant for optimal productivity. And with the tour of the facilities completed, the Corps Marshal was led to his lodge to take a well deserved rest for the day.
However, no sooner did he arrive to take some refreshments than a message came from the Management of NTA Sokoto requesting for his appearance on the Weekly Hausa programme of “Guest of the Week” to be transmitted live. Considering the importance of the programme to the public enlightenment aspect of the Corps Marshal’s visit, he did not hesitate to give an instant approval.
Accordingly, we hit the road again to meet with the 7:30pm air time of the programme at the station.
As expected, the programme went well with many viewers calling to ask various questions to which they received appropriate responses from the Corps Marshal, which undoubtedly, created huge public awareness among the viewers, as well as the general populace on the presence of the Corps Marshal in the city and the essence of his visit to the state.
Thursday, February 14, 2025, was the defining day for the visit as it was the day that the Corps Marshal was scheduled to pay courtesy visits to the Sultan of Sokoto and the Governor respectively. And in line with the scheduled times, the Corps Marshal and his entourage arrived the Palace on time where he was promptly received by His Eminence, the Sultan, in company of some of his traditional title holders and senior counsellors. The Corps Marshal’s messages at the palace were centred on the need for the Sultan’s support in the public awareness on the offences of overloading, mix-loading and tanker crashes, as well as people that rush to the scenes of tanker crashes to scoop spilled fuel which had led to enormous loss of many lives as witnessed in the incidents that occured in Majiya area of Jigawa State and Dikko Junction in Niger state respectively.
While the Sultan expressed concerns for the loss of lives and property at such incidents, he nevertheless called for rapid development of rail lines in the country which he said provide more appropriate means of conveying petroleum products instead of the road that Nigeria depends upon for fuel haulage.
Before departing the palace, the revelation that Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed started his early career in the FRSC in Sokoto State where he spent the first four years, got married and had his first child elicited so much interest among the people that he became more endeared to them as they rushed to have closer relationship with him.
It was with that spirit of the son of the soil being in the town that the Corps Marshal and his entourage were led to the Government House Sokoto where the Banquet Hall was filled to the brim waiting to receive him before the arrival of the Governor. As the Corps Marshal was being ushered into the hall by the Governor’s Protocols to wait for the arrival of the Governor, His Excellency, Dr Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, one could observe that it was the roll call of “who is who” in the state as all the branches of government were fully represented: The Rt Honourable Speaker of the State House of Assembly in attendance, the Grand Khadi representing the Judiciary and the Secretary to the State Government, the Head of Service and all the Commissioners and Senior Special Advisers who constitute the State Executive Council were present. Also in attendance were the Chairman of the ruling party in the state and some party elders and elder statesmen.
The attendance is so impressive that one would begin to wonder what could have informed the exceptional reception organised to honour the number one Road Marshal in the country. But the answer came immediately the Governor arrived and after the introduction of the guests and remarks by the Corps Marshal, it became obvious that the two shared the same Accounting profession. The Governor, in his remarks specifically pointed out some sterling qualities of the Corps Marshal which included his high sense of responsibility, accountability and fairness in his Management of the FRSC, saying “these are the attributes that the Corps requires to successfully carryout its mandate of making the roads safer at this period.” He pledged the continuous support of the state government to the FRSC to enhance the performance of the Corps in the state, stressing: “The Sokoto State Government is willing and ready to host the incoming conference of the FRSC.”
From the warm reception accorded the Corps Marshal by the people of Sokoto State; His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and the Governor, coupled with the state government’s promise to support FRSC’s campaign in all its ramifications, there’s no better way to measure the success of the visit to the city of the Sultanate than the goodwill displayed by the people, traditional institution and the Government. And as the Aero flight took off from Sadiq Abubakar III international airport, Sokoto, on Friday, 14 February, 2025 in the return trip, the consensus among the people of the state and the personnel of the FRSC alike was that the two-day familiarisation tour to Sokoto was a huge success that could impact positively on other states.
***Written by Sani Abdullahi
