THE NEW NUMBER PLATES AND DRIVERS LICENSES

BY AHMED BASHIR

The issue of safety on the nation’s highway has been on the front burner of public discourse for some time now. The federal road safety corps which is the lead agency of government in this area has been doing its best to drastically reduce road accidents. It has come up with various measures all aimed at tackling this problem.

However the recent pronouncement by the commission that it will embark on the renewal of the entire number plate system of the country as well as issue new drivers licenses has received diverse reactions from many quarters.

Under the arrangement, Drivers and vehicle owners have up to August next year to comply with the new rule when they will pay six thousand naira for a new driver’s license and fifteen thousand naira for a new number plate.

Some analysts have questioned the motives behind this system. On its part the road safety corps has hinged its decision on the need to have a reliable data base of vehicles plying the roads as well as the imperative to sanitize the current chaotic national driver’s license issuing process.

No one can deny the zeal of the transformation agenda by the current administration. It is clear that the FRSC has decided to key into this agenda through forward looking proposals like that of the new number plates.

The commission cites car monitoring via satellite as one of the core benefits of this plan. While the process might seem easy on paper and appealing to the ear, we must not forget too soon how many of such brilliant ideas have turned disastrous and incapable of making true statistical analysis available to the nation. The nation is still grappling with that of the national identity card.

And in consonance with the cries of teeming Nigerians, the House of Representatives rose from its plenary session recently and passed a motion directing the Federal Road Safety Commission to discontinue issuance of the newly introduced number plates until it concludes investigations into the matter.

Many Nigerians either rightly or wrongly saw the FRSC INITIATIVE as one of exploitation. In fact the member of the house who raised the motion, Honorable Sam Tsokwa, said it appeared that the FRSC was going beyond its legal mandate by phasing out the old number plates and their replacement at what he called exorbitant costs. Besides the other rationale that the new regime would be a source of revenue generation has drawn negative comments from both the House and the public to the effect that the FRSC was not set up with the primary aim generating revenue but enforcing safety rules.

While it is true that the nation needs reliable, complete, independent and working database system, a lot of things need to be fixed before coming up with such plans. The commission needs to do more on education of road users about high way signs, organize beneficial lectures and symposium, enforce true traffic control and overall, promote decongestion of roads by providing traffic lights on major junctions. Instead of the current whole sale change of number plates as currently advocated by the FRSC, it will appear more realistic and ideal to restrict the change to newly acquired vehicles and those that are currently damaged or gone bad, so that over time the change will take place. The issuance of deadline doesn’t appear realistic in the current scenario.

On the issue of the new drivers license, many are agreed on the propriety of the measure as it appears majority of the licenses in use by motorists currently appear to be fake. As a result many have acquired driving licenses without going through the necessary hurdles and steps. A fact, which many analysts attribute to the current high rate of road fatalities in the country.

There is a need therefore for all stakeholders to come together and agree on the way forward on this matter. Thank God the House of Representatives has elected to undertake a comprehensive look at the proposal. It is hoped that the outcome will be acceptable to the teeming Nigerians who are currently bedeviled with many economic challenges.



Source: FRCN daily commentary