Tributes have continued to pour in for former Lagos and Kogi State Sector Commander of FRSC ACM Abayomi Omiyale
Omiyale died last week after a brief illness.
He was in his 70s . He held several positions in the agency until his retirement
This was one of the tributes by one of his former colleague
TRIBUTE TO LATE ACM ABAYOMI OMIYALE
...The Disciplinarian is Gone..By Alhaji Sani Abdullahi
The sad news of the demise of Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Abayomi Omiyale (Rtd) came to me yesterday with great shocks. A foundation officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC, late ACM Omiyale played enviable role in the growth and development of the Corps and held various administrative, operations and command appointment within the period of his service culminating in his last assignment as the Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 12 Bauchi.
As one of the young Marshals who were part of the early history of the FRSC, I had two encounters with the late ACM which directly or indirectly influenced my career in the Corps: First was in May 1990, when I came to the Abuja Headquarters of the Corps then located in Wuse Zone 2 to meet the then Zonal Commander of RS1CA1 Abuja, Commander Ayodeji Oyedokun to submit my application for employment to him.
To be fair to him, Commander Oyedokun was very receptive toward my request and minuted on my application to the Deputy Route Commander (DRC) Omiyale who was the Head of Operations and 2ic to him. But after instantly interviewing me, Omiyale asked me to join some new Marshals that were undergoing internal training instead of sending the report of the interview to the ZCO for him to decide the next line of action.
Unfortunately for me, the ZCO saw his directive to me to start training which he also reflected in his report to him as an affront and overzealousness in the exercise of the power of interview given to him.
Consequently, the ZCO minuted on the same report and directed him to ask me to stop training.
That was how I lost the opportunity to secure the job from the Abuja office of the Corps, prompting me to travel to the FRSC National Headquarters then located in Gbagada area of Lagos where I met Dr Olu Agunloye who was the Director of Organisation and Chief Executive (DOACE) and ultimately secured the job there before returning to the same Abuja office later in the year after the basic training program at Efon-Alaye.
The second encounter with the late ACM was in 1995 when my team was accused of patrol misconduct and harassed by one Commander George Nsien. We were so shabbily treated that I had to directly petition the then Corps Marshal, Major General, Haldu Anthony Hananiya (Rtd) in order to clear our names. Fortunately, General Hananiya was kind enough to direct Omiyale who was the disciplinary officer at the RSHQ to investigate the matter.
As Omiyale set out to carryout his investigation, he invited Commabder George Nsien to take him to the scene of the incident for him to have proper understanding of the matter. But infuriated by the fact that a junior Marshal could have the audacity to petition him and for Corps Marshal to give him a listening ear, he refused to either accompany him to the scene or give further cooperation to determine the truth of the allegations.
That was how Omiyale completed his investigation without the input of the accuser and the team was consequently exonerated. For the avoidance of doubt, we were already at the disciplinary court setup to try us based on the accused, Commander George Nsien's allegations when the authoritative decision on the matter came from the Corps Marshal's office which effectively closed the matter.
If anyone knew how the FRSC was at the time, he would realise how strategic these two encounters were in shaping my career in the Corps.
May the Almighty God give the immediate family of late ACM Omiyale, friends and the Corps Marshal the fortitude to bear this great and irreparable loss and fur his soul to rest in perfect peace. Amen.