FRSC and the New African Dream of Safer Roads By Lawal Dahiru Mamman
Whether it is Algeria in North Africa, Nigeria in West Africa, Gabon in Central Africa, Burundi in East Africa, or Botswana in Southern Africa, ugly narratives about our infrastructure like roads and the lack of political will to address these problems have been on sale for decades, without complementary stories on the efforts being made.
In the same vein, deliberate continent wide approach is required and in the complex architecture of continental diplomacy, leadership is rarely defined by mere rhetoric. Rather, true leadership is characterised by the courage to host difficult conversations and the capacity to build the physical and intellectual infrastructure upon which others can lean.
On May 5, 2026, Nigeria transitioned from being a mere participant in the African road safety dialogue to becoming its primary custodian. With the official inauguration of the Executive Secretariat of the African Association of Road Safety Lead Agencies (AARSLA) and the West African Road Safety Organisation (WARSO) at the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Headquarters in Abuja, has effectively become the heartbeat of continental mobility coordination.
The inauguration brought together major continental stakeholders including the President of AARSLA, Nashow Kondiwa; Representative of the SSATP/World Bank, Ms. Marisela Ponche de Leon Valdes; Honourable Zunu Duntann of Liberia; Mr. Ariel Sacramento of Benin Republic; Mr. Tou Siaka of Côte d’Ivoire; and Mr. Sheriff Abou of Sierra Leone, among several other foreign delegates and technical partners committed to reducing road traffic fatalities in Africa.
Under the stewardship of Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed, this development represents an administrative victory and realignment of Nigeria’s role within the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and toward global road safety targets.
Within a broader framework, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 addresses road safety and transport primarily through its focus on infrastructure development, regional integration, and sustainable mobility, showing that road safety is not a standalone aspiration; instead, it is deeply embedded in transport and infrastructure goals.
Specifically, it aligns with Aspiration 1, which calls for modern infrastructure including safe roads, rail, air, and maritime networks as a cornerstone of sustainable development and the reduction of accident-related deaths.
It also supports Aspiration 2, which promotes seamless connectivity across Africa through safer highways and harmonised transport regulations. These efforts are mirrored in flagship projects like the African Integrated High-Speed Rail Network and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Simultaneously, the global road safety targets set by the United Nations aim to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. To achieve this, countries are encouraged to adopt national action plans, strengthen legal frameworks, and ensure that all new vehicles meet rigorous safety standards. The initiative also emphasises reducing speeding, tackling impaired driving, and enforcing the universal use of helmets, seat belts, and child restraints.
Beyond individual behavior, these targets highlight systemic improvements such as safer road infrastructure, strict regulations on professional driving hours, and faster access to emergency medical care. Consequently, collecting reliable road safety data and ensuring that travel occurs on roads meeting technical safety standards remain central to the plan.
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Together, these measures reflect a comprehensive approach combining legislation, enforcement, infrastructure, and public awareness to address one of the leading causes of death worldwide, particularly among young people.
It goes without saying that achieving these goals would not only save lives but also ease the burden on health systems and strengthen economic resilience.
The philosophical foundation of this milestone is also rooted in the findings of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) Annual Report 2025 those document serves as a sobering mirror for African transport ministries, sending a clear message that road safety must move from reactive enforcement to preventive protection.
That report emphasises that saving lives requires better systems, smarter enforcement, and people-centered operations, rather than simply arresting offenders after a violation has occurred. It highlights that road safety operatives should no longer be viewed merely as traffic controllers, but as mobility managers and emergency first responders who prioritise life protection over revenue collection.
For Africa, the SSATP report offers practical lessons that can be implemented immediately, most notably the need to shift from conjecture to data-driven deployments. It advocates for the use of real-time crash databases and dashboards to track dangerous drivers and high-risk routes.
Instead of random checkpoints, the report suggests that operatives should deploy where fatalities occur most frequently, focusing on the human element by enforcing seatbelt use, regulating overloading, and ensuring mandatory rest periods for long-distance drivers. By treating road safety as a science of prevention rather than a task of punishment, the report provides a roadmap for reducing the thousands of lives lost annually on African roads.
Hence, the newly inaugurated Secretariat in Abuja is designed to be the engine room for these reforms. It is expected to function as a continental hub for research, policy harmonisation, and technical cooperation among African nations.
Beyond providing a physical office, the Secretariat will serve as a strategic platform for exchange and capacity building, allowing member states to share innovations in data management and infrastructure safety. Furthermore, it will play a vital role in advancing the objectives of regional integration by ensuring that transport governance is standardised across borders, making it easier for goods and people to move safely across the continent.
Under the current leadership, the FRSC has demonstrated that Nigerian institutions can function as continental benchmarks. The Secretariat aligns strongly with the foreign policy direction of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises institutional strengthening and regional cooperation.
With this hosting, Nigeria is spearheading a movement where technology such as smart speed cameras and contactless biometric systems replaces manual inefficiencies. This ensures that the road safety policies translate into safer journeys for everyone, from the trader in Lokoja to the student in Monrovia.
As Africa looks to Nigeria for guidance, our message must remain consistent with the national slogan of “Safe Roads, Saved Lives, Strong Nation” because every road crash destroys a family and depletes the national economy.
Road safety operatives are ultimately the guardians of the nation’s future. Through the AARSLA/WARSO Secretariat, Africa is proving that it does not just want to transport its people, it wants to protect them, ensuring the road becomes a place of passage rather than peril.
This milestone is hopefully the beginning of saner and safer roads, and the end of negative narratives about African highways.
