The Kogi State government, yesterday, released 49 convoy drivers and three safety managers to the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, for training in specialised driving.
The state FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Godwin Omiko, told newsmen in Lokoja that the drivers included those in the convoy of the state governor and top government officials.
He said the training became necessary to equip the drivers with modern techniques of driving in convoy, to ensure the safety of the governor, government officials and other road users.
He said with the development, the state had bowed to an earlier demand for the drivers to undergo formal training, adding that the FRSC had trained over 700 drivers from the 36 states governments and the FCT in 2012.
Omiko said the drivers would be trained in modern techniques of convoy driving, understanding of driving code, perception and driving strategies for different environment.
He said the drivers would also go through techniques of defensive driving, effects of fatigue and emotion, and consequences of unsafe driving and poor decision making, and use of safety and protective equipment.
“In the course of the training, the convoy drivers will be made to realise that they are not immune to crashes and above the law, and should not constitute a nuisance to other road users,” he said.
He said the essence of training the safety managers was to impress it on them to ensure that vehicles in government pool were regularly maintained.
They are also to instill and enforce discipline among drivers, and ensure good physical and emotional condition of drivers before assigning them responsibilities.
It would be recalled that the state governor’s convoy had been involved in a number of crashes, including the one that led to the death a former ASUU President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who died in November.
