Members of the Special Marshals arm of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have been charged to discharge their duties with passion, integrity and commitment to serving humanity.

The charge was given by the RS 12.1 Sector Commander, Bauchi Sector Command, CC Caleb Luka, while speaking shortly after presiding over the induction of new members of the Special Marshals on Saturday at the FRSC Base.

He said, “I am happy about Bauchi State. What the Special Marshals are doing is highly commendable. So, I want the few of you that have entered to learn from here, key into what you are doing, and then, by the grace of God, we will produce a National Coordinator from Bauchi if we continue like this.”

He added, “I want to say that most of what I’m supposed to say here has already been said. I will only expatiate on it. To be a Special Marshal, your watchwords are integrity, passion and commitment, just like the various speakers have spoken to us here.

“Nobody forced you to put yourself into what you are in today. In my humble self, as I am, I used to pity anybody that enters the Special Marshals. I was telling somebody that if I were not a Regular Marshal, I would not go near anything like the Special Marshals.

“Because the wahala there is too much. But there’s one thing that drives most of us: passion. Passion is very, very important. There are people who, when they pass and see a crash victim, feel like crying. So, that’s what is driving us from the outside to want to come inside.”

He added, “According to him, “The day I went to see the Governor, sorry, the notice to see the Governor was very short. Twenty minutes’ notice. I was running helter-skelter here. When I saw him, I didn’t even know what to say. But something quickly came to my mind. The First Lady has been helping us with rescue operations. Here, I’m talking about passion.

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“If you see that woman at a rescue scene, she will show up. She will carry out the rescue, take the victim to hospital and pay their hospital bills before she leaves.”

“When I told the Governor, he was just shaking his head. That means he knows the type of wife he has and he knows the passion inside her. And we are preparing to give her an Honorary Marshal. We are talking with the State Coordinator about it.”

Caleb Luka added, “Still talking about passion, you see, one thing about this passion, I just came back from a capacity-building and strategic session. I would have come back tomorrow, but because of this very occasion, I had to rush and start coming.

“There were resource persons who came from NIPSS, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. There were professors, about four of them, including the Vice-Chancellor of Kaduna State University, who personally has passion for crash victims. He told us that to be successful and reduce these crashes, you must have that passion.”

The Sector Commander stressed that, “It is not good enough to have the passion if you go and carry out rescue operations. After seeing the crash victim, the crash scene and what has happened, the next question you should ask yourself, which will enable you to think, because as a good Regular or Special Marshal, you must be a good strategic thinker, is: What else would I do to prevent this crash so that it will not occur again?

He added, “By the time you have that mindset, then you are working towards achieving the target of action, which is a 10 per cent reduction that we are talking about. So, please, I want us to imbibe that.

“And having known that passion, we must also know our operating environment. The operating environment is all-encompassing. The human beings, you know, our operating environment is human beings. Who are you? What do you intend to add to reduce these crashes on the road?”

According to him, “In Bauchi State, we are so worried, so worried about this Jos Road that we have a unit and a Zebra corridor. You know, the crashes there are so much. It’s terrible. So, we must think: What else can we do extraordinarily to reduce these crashes?”

“Again, along this Maiduguri Road, I’ve started working on this. These tipper lorries, they are terrible. Just a couple of days ago, we lost nine people, burnt to ashes. It’s a thing of concern.

“I want to bring this story so that we think of what is ahead of us, especially the new inductees. It’s not good enough to go there and be doing rescue. Yes, it’s a good thing, but we must think of what other ways.”

According to him, “Public education, research into what is causing these accidents, accident investigation, road inspection, and so on and so forth, so that we will be able to solve the problem. Anything we can do to solve this problem and reduce these carnages on the highways is welcome.

“Road Safety is looking at zero fatalities. That if a crash must occur, we shouldn’t have death. Zero. There shouldn’t be death. But by the time one crash claims nine people, then it is terrible.

“When I was sending the report to the headquarters, my hand was shaking. Nine people burnt to ashes. When I was telling the ACM Operations, he said, ‘To that magnitude?’ So, it’s a thing of concern.

“So, please, let’s look at it. Our accident investigator is doing a lot of work. He is still investigating to see the various causes so that we can build on it and move forward.”

The Sector Commander added, “Another thing we must also know, apart from knowing our operating environment, which I learned from these professors and doctors, is that you must quarantine your environment. You must work within the cocoon of your environment. When you know it very well, quarantine that environment and chew it very well. You understand? Chew it from what you know about quarantine during COVID-19. Then you’ll be able to make a lot of impact.”

He also said that discipline was key, saying, “You must discipline yourself as a person, then as an organisation. Most importantly is sacrifice. Sacrifice of time, sacrifice of resources, sacrifice of so many things, you know.

“Sometimes you will see some things that are very annoying, but you must be above board. Very, very important.”

“On that note, let me formally induct you into the Special Marshals circle. You’re welcome, as new inductees, and there is a big task ahead of you. I’m just giving you issues. Look at Jos Road, look at Maiduguri Road, look at tipper lorries, trailers, and see how we can reduce these carnages.”

Speaking earlier, the State Coordinator of the Special Marshals, SM Godwin Obioha, told the new inductees that, as a regimental organisation, Special Marshals members obey commands from the FRSC and do everything possible to protect and project its image positively.

He further told them that it was not an organisation to toy with because its primary objective was to serve humanity and save lives through effective and active participation in rescue operations and the maintenance of safer roads.

Speaking on behalf of the new Special Marshals, Esam Mohammed assured that they would join hands with others to ensure safety on the roads across the state.

The oaths of office and allegiance were administered to the new Special Marshals by the RS 12.1 Zonal Command…