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“FRSC OFFICIALS NEED ARMS FOR NIGHT OPERATIONS ONLY” – Corps Oladele
… Says Ogun Roads are safer for motorists
Corps Commander Clement Olafeminiyi Oladele, is the Ogun state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps. A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration specialising in Public Finance in 1992, and had earlier in 1988 obtained Bachelor’s
Degree in Administration at the same institution with a second Class Upper Division.
Prior to his appointment as the Sector Commander of Ogun on Thursday 15 September, 2016, Oladele headed the Federal Road Safety Corps’ Planning
Advisory Unit. As Head of Planning Advisory, Oladele oversees Business Intelligence for the FRSC, and had then as basic responsibility, scanning of the environment for global good practice and the conversion of data into meaningful intelligence upon which the Corps makes evidence based decisions. Oladele while featuring as Guest of Month of February on a popular newspaper whatsapp forum, PLATFORM TIMES and monitored by our correspondent, MICHAEL-AZEEZ OGUNSIJI advocated for the use of fire arms by the Federal Road Safety Corps on night operations for protection from road defaulters and criminals.
The Kogi -born Federal Road Marshal, however called on private individuals and philanthropists in the society to collaborate with FRSC in provision of rescue operation aids to reduce dead casualties from road crashes. Excerpt.
Let’s start with the immediate past year (2017). On a scale of 1-10, to what extent would you say Ogun State Road users understood and obeyed traffic rules?
OLADELE: I don’t think it is fair to make me do that rating. I thought we serve the people and they should rate our performance. But on a personal note, I will classify them into two groups. The first is about 8/10 while the second group is about 4/10.
[cuts in]…. I mean the people. Not your men, Drivers and Road Users.
To what extent have they cooperated with you in obeying the traffic rules… Do they understand it?
OLADELE: My answer above suffices. Your question is two fold. Understand and obey. The first group is 8/10, they comprise the majority of the motorists here. They also obey traffic rules. albeit occasionally they may just forget to comply. For example, they may not remember to use the seat belt inside the town, which they could take to the highway. These people consist of about 90 percent of the motorists. But the remaining 10% rates 4/10. They are those posing risks not only to themselves but to other road users they share the road with.
Let’s talk about the second group. Who are they? And why have you rated them below average?
OLADELE: They are those that disregards every societal rules, including traffic rules. They are those that drive recklessly under the illusion that they are immune from road crashes. They also indulge in the use of drugs and other illicit substances while driving. They are dangerous, even to themselves on the highway.
These 90% people that flout the traffic rules , how have you been dealing with them sir?
OLADELE: No. 90% does not flout traffic rules. I said 10% rank 4/10. They are the ones which makes FRSC increases highway surveillance to enable us stop them from crashing into innocent, law abiding motorists. We apprehend them, default them, issue them citation or sometimes take them before magistrates especially during mobile court to get them disciplined for bad behaviour on the highway.
As a matter of public interest, kindly use this medium to differentiate between road ACCIDENT and road CRASHES.
OLADELE: Accidents are unplanned, which sometimes you may not be able to explain how it happened, like driving at regulated speed on an expressway and a little boy suddenly crosses the road in a place that is not a school or built up area. Thus an accident is unplanned and not expected. But a crash is planned and expected, caused by negligence. For instance, driving above stipulated speed, drunk and with worn out tyres or driving against traffic.
Sir, which one common in Ogun State?
OLADELE: Crashes is very high in Ogun State, it might not be too correct, as our statistics does not support that. Despite the high Motorisation here in Ogun State, compare with other states, we are not the most dangerous. I know before I arrived last year, Ogun state ranked within the ten most dangerous highways in Nigeria. In fact in 2015 at fatality rate or deaths from crashes at 307, Ogun ranked no 6 nationwide. But with our Ogun State road safety strategy (2017-2030), we reduced the fatality in 2016 to 270 making us rank no 12 nationwide . Meaning technically Ogun State highways have been removed from the list of the ten most dangerous highways in Nigeria. Last year 2017, fatality reduced to 210. The goal is to make highways in Ogun State not only the safest in Nigeria but the safest highways in the whole of West Africa.
The statutory functions of FRSC include: Making the highways safe for motorists and other road users as well as checking road worthiness of vehicles, recommending works and infrastructures to eliminate or minimize accidents on the highways and educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of road discipline , In the last 30 years, how far has the Corps ensured its mandate?
OLADELE: The Corps is a performance based organisation. We elected, albeit a public institution to do ISO 9001 QMS certification which enables us open up our internal processes for a third party evaluation, for continual impoundment. Thus FRSC Nigeria is the only law enforcement agency in Africa with ISO 9001 QMS certification. Realising this, we redefined the FRSC into ” who are we, what do we do, how do we do it and how best can we do it”. With this we took our mandates to deliver them all, which makes it very easy to rate the FRSC. Essentially we are to prevent crashes, where we failed to prevent a crash, we should not allow death by removing the injured from crash scene for proper medication. If in the course of the crash that road is blocked we remove promptly the obstruction. For instance in Ogun State last year alone 1.8 million passengers travelled on Ogun highways and 210 people died. This meant just because there is FRSC over 99% of travellers in Ogun State arrived their destinations safely as less than 1% of them only died. We are not even satisfied with this, we want zero death. On prompt removal of obstructions, this is priotized especially on the Lagos – Ibadan corridor, which in any ten minutes delay can cause us about one hour to completely restore traffic. The strategy therefore is do not allow any obstruction. We constantly recommend at least every quarter observations from our road audit and result of accident investigation which the FERMA, Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing and the state government consider along other factors in Road rehabilitation.
How often do you sensitise motorists on safe driving especially members of Transport unions?
OLADELE: Sensitisation of motorists is routine. Apart from motor Park checks to talk to drivers and their passengers, we conduct PE for drivers apprehended before we release them. We use the social media to communicate highway safety. The traditional Mass Media have been very useful in assisting us reach the motorists and general public for PE. In fact the whole gamut of FRSC operations is to inform and educate motorists, drivers and the general public on proper use of the highway . However where recalcitrant drivers flout traffic rules we sanction.
The people complaints over the excesses of your men is becoming loud, what are the checkmating mechanisms put in place and how do you get feed backs?
OLADELE: We have a SERVICOM desk that receive and treat daily public complaints. My email is available for complaint oc. [email protected]. Those apprehended undergo administrative disciplinary process and those found wanting are meted with various sanctions, including outright dismissal. The only challenge we face is that some people who complained refuse to substantiate their claims to aid disciplinary measures. In fact, we have even commenced disciplinary actions, these complainant go behind to plead for leniency for defaulted personnel. Claiming they don’t want to be responsible for sacking such defaulted personnel.
What are those areas of your responsibility, that you feel the cooperation of the public would be needed to improve service delivery of the FRSC in Ogun State?
OLADELE: Almost every where. Road Safety is multi dimensional. The public do not need to give us money, they can just procure equipment for rescue. They can also assist us put on their payroll local divers to enable us mobilise them for rescue where the victims fall inside the river. Provision of trauma drugs to our road side accident clinics is also a good support. Also good is provision of standard road signs. We also want stakeholders provide educational materials to enable us teach road safety to school children, including organising road safety competition especially quiz to increase their road safety education, to make them better drivers when grown up. We also need media airtime dedicated to teaching the public proper use of the highway. No support is too little or too much. In my experience in highway safety, I have seen strong, rich and powerful people confused, helpless, and traumatised due to traffic crash. Road Traffic Crashes are levelers and no respecter of persons, not even road safety officials on rescue operations. Therefore any support to promote highway safety is significant.
What is your horrible experience on the job?
OLADELE: The most horrible is to break the news of the demise of a crash victim to their loved ones. We have a process, we can never say the victim died. We do not want secondary casualty. We request to speak to either the spouse or boss to inform them of such fatal crash. Like I always say, whenever you say goodbye to your loved ones, they expect a call from you. In any case a call must be made, but who made the call is important. Where you chose not to call your loved one after your trip due to carelessness or recklessness, the FRSC would be constrained to make the call. We at FRSC do not always want to make such calls. Some crashes have worried me in Ogun State. Few samples was the 14 January, 2017 where a couple slipped into Omu river by area J4 on Ore – Ijebu Ode highway. Why it was painful was that, even after mobilising JBN crane to remove the trapped couple from the river, we could not succeed as the local divers frustrated our desire to promptly bring out the couple from the river. Even my plea that the victim could even be people who may be privileged to employ the local divers in gainful employment. The action led us calling the rescue till the next day. After bringing out the couple from the river the medical doctor said they just died not too long. Meaning if the divers, which we do not yet have in FRSC, had remained in the river till we bring the victim out of the river, they might not have died. While trying to locate the victim family, the first alert received from the late couple phone, we recovered was N17 million naira. I then told the local divers I told you, though we did not know the victims, but if they had saved them, definitely they might have been positioned to employ some of the local divers.
Another disturbing crash was also on the ijebu ode road last month where we lost five Libyan returnees, travelling from Benin to Lagos. A truck driving against traffic at about 2230 hrs colluded against their bus. Some of those who survived told us they were going to Synagogue Church in Lagos. The FRSC has established a Command Outpost to stem the occurrence of driving against traffic along that J3 and J4 axis of Ore – Ijebu Ode corridor. The incident has abated.
There was another crash at Alapako /Ogunmakin opposite Four square church along the Lagos – Ibadan corridor, where a truck conveying a container locked 7 passengers inside the container and drove dangerously crashing into a fuel laden tanker around the 5km stretch of road between sancrete and Fidiwo where RCC constructing the road made a diversion to enable them complete the weakened bridges on that section of the road. There are other crashes but those mentioned above Stands out amongst disturbing crashes I witnessed since I assumed duties in Ogun State.
Many have been calling for the Corps to be armed. Would you subscribe that the Constitution should be amended to accommodate this?
OLADELE: I think arming the FRSC is a government decision. I am not sure the FRSC merely wants to use fire arms for patrols, except for protection during night operations. The country’s ultra modern licensing architecture is multi million naira investment. This is what makes it possible for holders of Nigeria drivers license, through reciprocity, allowed to drive with this drivers license in Europe and several states in the US. This is also the facility that enables holder of valid Nigeria drivers license renew such in any part of the world, without coming to Drivers License Center, provided you have access to the Internet and Web enabled payment. This infrastructure requires protection. Other sister security agencies do support, but due to ongoing security challenges, they too are constrained.
Your parting words to Ogun road users?
OLADELE: I thank the motoring public for good behaviour on the road. There are a few others that are however dangerous. We all have responsibility to stop them from hurting or even maiming us by their bad behaviour on the highway. Let’s stop them before they stop us. We all have responsibility to highway safety. Call FRSC toll free number 122 to report any road obstruction, road crash or any dangerous driver you come across on the highway. I also thank Nigerians for believing in FRSC in the last 30 years. Your prayers and support have sustained us. We even required closer collaboration and prayers to deliver efficiently on our core mandates. I commend the press for their support.
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President Tinubu in Turkey: Guard of Honor and Strategic Agreements Signal New Era in Bilateral Relations
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, was accorded a full guard of honor during his official state visit to Turkey, a ceremonial reception reserved for world leaders and a strong signal of the respect Nigeria commands on the global stage.
The ceremony, held at the Turkish Presidential Complex in Ankara, featured military pageantry, national anthems, and formal protocol before high-level bilateral talks commenced.
The Presidency confirmed that President Tinubu briefly stumbled due to a camera cable while proceeding to the presidential lodge but stood up immediately and continued his engagements without interruption, stressing that the incident had no impact on the visit or his health.
More importantly, the visit delivered substantive diplomatic and economic outcomes. During talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 27, 2026, Nigeria and Turkey signed nine cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, covering military cooperation, higher education, diaspora policy, media and communication, halal accreditation, diplomatic training, and the establishment of a Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
At a joint press conference, President Tinubu emphasized the need to deepen cooperation in security, trade, and economic development, while President Erdoğan reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and commitment to strengthening strategic ties.
With Turkey’s strengths in defense technology, intelligence, education, and industrial capacity, the agreements open new opportunities for technology transfer, security collaboration, trade expansion, and human capital development.
In essence, the Turkey visit stands as a diplomatic success, defined not by a fleeting moment, but by honor, respect, and concrete agreements that advance Nigeria’s security, economy, and international standing.
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
Preface: The Necessity of Historical Context
Every generation seeks its heroes. In music, this instinct often manifests through comparison—an exercise that frequently reveals more about contemporary taste than historical contribution. In recent years, public discourse, amplified by social media, has juxtaposed Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti with global Afrobeats icons, most notably Wizkid, provoking the recurring question of “greatness” in Nigerian music.
This essay does not diminish the accomplishments of Nigeria’s contemporary stars, whose global visibility is unprecedented. Rather, it offers a scholarly contextualization—one that distinguishes between musical origination and musical succession, and between cultural architecture and commercial dominance—while situating Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti firmly within the category of historical inevitability.
The Problem with Simplistic Comparison
Comparing Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti with contemporary Afrobeats performers is, by scholarly standards, inherently flawed.
Fela’s work transcended performance. He engineered an entire musical and ideological system, fused political philosophy with sound, and permanently altered the trajectory of African popular music. His output represents cultural authorship, not entertainment calibrated to market demand. Fela’s music is timeless precisely because it was never designed to be fashionable.
A Yoruba proverb captures this distinction with enduring clarity:
“Ọmọ kì í ní aṣọ púpọ̀ bí àgbà, kó ní akísà bí àgbà.”
A child may own many clothes, but he cannot possess the rags of an elder.
The proverb is not dismissive. It is instructive. It speaks to accumulated depth—experience earned, systems built, and legacies forged through time rather than trend.
Musicians and Artistes: A Necessary Distinction
A rigorous analysis requires conceptual precision. Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti was a musician in the classical and intellectual sense: a composer, arranger, bandleader, employer of musicians, multi-instrumentalist, theorist, and cultural philosopher. His work demanded mastery of form, orchestration, ideology, and discipline.
Fela composed extended works, trained orchestras, performed entirely live, and embedded African political consciousness into rhythm, harmony, and structure.
By contrast, many contemporary stars—though exceptionally gifted and globally successful—operate primarily as artistes: interpreters of sound whose work prioritizes studio production, performance aesthetics, and commercial reach. This is not a hierarchy of worth, but a distinction of function. Fela’s music demanded study and confrontation; contemporary Afrobeats prioritised accessibility, pleasure, and global circulation—often without courting antagonism.
Afrobeat: An Ideological Invention
Afrobeat, as conceived by Fela, was not merely a genre. It was an ideological framework. Jazz, highlife, Yoruba rhythmic systems, call-and-response traditions, and political chant were fused into a resistant, uncompromising form.
Modern Afrobeats—by Wizkid, Burna Boy, and others—are adaptations and descendants, not replicas. They have expanded Africa’s global cultural footprint, but expansion does not erase origination. Fela’s Afrobeat remains the undiluted prototype upon which contemporary success rests.
Enduring Legacy Beyond Mortality
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti passed in 1997, yet his influence has intensified rather than diminished. His legacy is evidenced by:
– Continuous academic study across global universities.
– International bands, many formed by people not alive at the time of his death, performing his works.
– FELABRATION, now a global annual cultural event.
– Broadway and international stage adaptations inspired by his life and music.
– Lifetime achievement and posthumous recognition by the Grammy Awards.
– Cultural centres, festivals, and scholarly conferences generating lasting intellectual and economic value.
This constitutes cultural permanence, not nostalgia.
Reconsidering Wealth and Sacrifice
Measured monetarily, Fela was not among the wealthiest musicians of his era. His radicalism came at an immense personal cost. He was beaten repeatedly. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was killed. His home was burned. Original artistic archives were destroyed during state-sanctioned violence by unknown soldiers, even though history records who authorised the actions.
Yet Fela gave voice to generations—from Ojuelegba to Mushin, Ajegunle to Jos, Abuja, and even the privileged enclaves of today’s ọmọ baba olówó. He toured globally with an unusually large band long before satellite television or social media could amplify his reach.
Like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, Fela’s wealth exists beyond currency. It resides in influence, citation, adaptation, and endurance.
National and Global Recognition
Fela received a state burial in Lagos—an extraordinary acknowledgment from a military government he relentlessly criticised. Nations rarely honour dissenters so formally.
Globally, his stature aligns with figures such as James Brown, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones—artists whose music reshaped identity, politics, and social consciousness.
The Crowned Princes: Wizkid and the Ethics of Reverence
Nigeria’s modern stars—Wizkid, Burna Boy, 2Face Idibia, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tems, Olamide, among others—have achieved extraordinary global success. They are wealthier, more mobile, and more visible internationally than previous generations, and they deserve their accolades.
Wizkid, in particular, has consistently demonstrated reverence rather than rivalry toward Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti.
Femi Aníkúlápó Kuti has publicly stated:
“Wizkid loves Fela like a father.”
Wizkid has repeatedly supported FELABRATION, never demanding performance fees. The only times he has not appeared were occasions when he was not in the country. He has remixed Fela’s music, bears a Fela tattoo on his arm, and openly acknowledges Fela’s primacy.
A senior associate and long-time friend of Wizkid has affirmed that Wizkid adores Fela, would never equate himself with him—“in this world or the next”—and that recent tensions were reactions to provocation rather than assertions of equivalence.
This distinction matters. Wizkid’s posture is one of inheritance, not competition.
Seun Kuti and the Burden of Legacy
Seun Kuti is a musician of conviction and lineage. Yet relevance is best secured through original contribution rather than reactive comparison. Fela’s legacy does not require defence through controversy; it is already settled by history.
As William Shakespeare observed:
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
—Julius Caesar
The weight of inheritance can inspire greatness or provoke restlessness. History rewards those who build upon legacy, not those who contest it.
The Songs That Made Fela Legendary
Among the works that cemented Fela’s immortality are:
– Zombie
– Water No Get Enemy
– Sorrow, Tears and Blood
– Coffin for Head of State
– Expensive Shit
– Shakara
– Gentleman
– Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense
– Roforofo Fight
– Beasts of No Nation
These compositions remain sonic textbooks of resistance.
Fela in the Digital Age
Had Fela lived in the era of social media, his voice would have resonated far beyond Africa. His music would have found kinship among global movements confronting inequality, oppression, and social injustice.
“Music is the weapon.”
—Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti
Weapons, unlike trends, endure.
Placing Greatness Correctly
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti’s greatness does not require comparison. He is the great-grandfather of Afrobeat—the musical and cultural architect who cleared the roads upon which today’s Afrobeat princes now travel.
Honouring contemporary success does not diminish historical achievement. To understand Nigerian music’s global relevance is to understand Fela. History, when read correctly, is both generous and precise.
Prince Adeyemi Shonibare writes on culture, music history, and African creative industries. He is a media and events consultant based in Nigeria.
Years after a petition alleging abuse of office, intimidation and institutional misconduct was submitted against operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Hajia Mazangari has drawn public attention to the matter once again, expressing concern over what she described as prolonged institutional silence and the absence of any known resolution.
The controversy arose from a bank draft transaction involving a sum running into several millions of naira, reportedly issued in the name of “EFCC Clients Account” and handed over to one Habibu Aliyu.
According to the account contained in the petition, Hajia Mazangari was later contacted by her bank and informed that an EFCC operative allegedly approached the bank, requesting that the draft earlier issued by her be cashed into another personal account.
The bank reportedly declined the request, insisting that the draft could only be re-issued in the name of a new beneficiary in compliance with established banking regulations. Attempts by Hajia Mazangari, through her solicitor, to retrieve the original bank draft allegedly resulted in hostility from Habibu Aliyu and Ruqqaya Ibrahim, with the situation escalating into what the petition described as sustained malice, intimidation and humiliation.
“It is as a result of this unending malice, torture and humiliation that we passionately plead to you, sir, to save our client who has been run aground by people with personal vendetta disguising as public officers,” the petition read.
In a further petition dated 14 January 2020 and addressed to the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, through her counsel, Ibrahim Salawu, Esq., Hajia Mazangari alleged that Habibu Aliyu (a former staff of the EFCC), Ruqqaya Ibrahim (a serving EFCC staff), Mohammed Goje (a serving EFCC staff) and one Mustafa Gadanya (a former staff of the EFCC) had, on various occasions, stormed her family residence in Kaduna.
According to the petition, copies of which were obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, the individuals allegedly accused her, her son and his associates of being involved in a pension scam, insisting that they were “neck-deep” in the alleged fraud and would be dealt with and made to face prosecution.
Hajia Mazangari maintained that the accusations were unfounded and that the repeated visits amounted to intimidation and abuse of authority.
In a related development at the time, counsel to Ahmed and Fatima Mazangari, Barrister Ibrahim Salawu, also wrote to the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court seeking the reassignment of their case to another court, following the elevation of the presiding judge to the Court of Appeal and the resultant irregular sittings of the court.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations contained in the petitions, efforts to obtain an official response from the EFCC at the time reportedly proved abortive.
Years later, Hajia Mazangari maintains that the institutional silence that greeted her complaints has persisted. She faulted the former Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, for allegedly failing to address the concerns raised in the petitions.
She further accused the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, of failing to intervene or cause a review of the matter despite being formally notified.
According to her, the situation has not changed under the current leadership of the EFCC, which she claims has continued in what she described as the same pattern of silence and inaction, leaving the issues raised unresolved several years after the petitions were submitted.
She also raised concerns over the continued service of an officer identified as Mohammed Goje at the EFCC office in Gombe, noting that other officers of similar standing were reportedly dismissed in the past for corrupt practices. She questioned why no publicly known disciplinary or investigative outcome has emerged from her complaints.
Hajia Mazangari stressed that her decision to speak out again is not based on any fresh incident, but on the need to draw public attention to an unresolved matter which, in her view, underscores broader concerns about institutional accountability. She called on relevant authorities and oversight bodies to revisit the petitions and ensure that the issues raised are conclusively addressed in accordance with the law.
When contacted for comments on the allegations and the renewed public attention surrounding the matter, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had not responded as at the time of filing this report.
However, the Commission is hereby afforded the right of reply and is free to present its position or clarifications on the issues raised.
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