By Akinlolu Oluwamuyiwa
THE decision by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to drop the deadline it earlier fixed for motorists to obtain the new vehicle number plates and driver’s licence is timely and instructive. It is an admission of error in the implementation of the new vehicle particulars scheme in the first place. The directive itself would not have been necessary had the commission been fully ready to revolutionise the schemes; in which case, the transition from the old to the new stage would have been seamless, and would not have originated the wide complaints from Nigerians. It is worth recalling that the scheme had from the outset been greeted with heated controversy that led to calls for its suspension by the Senate. The concern of the public has been justified, in view of the avoidable hassles they go through in the course of obtaining the new licences.
Of particular concern to Nigerians is the difficulty in renewing drivers’ licence, which sometimes take two or more years. The major problem usually arises at the stage of ‘capturing’ the applicant on-line through the FRSC’s computer network. Too many problems often surface, ranging from overworked computers that subsequently break down, inability of the commission to cope with the huge number of applicants invited for the exercise, hacking of the FRSC’s computer server, thereby necessitating fresh installations and new passwords, which are not readily available. The result is that applicants are given long dates to appear, and subsequently given several renewed appointments on an exercise that should not take more than 30 minutes at the most. Most of the problems could, however, have been anticipated and therefore avoided. The commission’s inability to do so is responsible largely for the hitches. Even now, the commission still needs to overhaul its system to reduce the hardship of the applicants.
The FRSC based its decision to remove the deadline on a recent court verdict that declared the deadline as illegal. It is evident, however, that its operation on the licences have not been pleasant to Nigerians, who are still to appreciate the more than 100 per cent increase in the official fees. The charges have portrayed the Commission as pursuing a revenue mobilisation agenda that was not in the public interest. Happily, the court verdict will prevent undue acrimony between motorists and men of the FRSC.
Although the commission has sought to debunk the negative public impression, stressing that it was working in cooperation with the states, it is important for other government agencies and parastatals to follow due process in the performance of their duties as these affect the public. Nigerians are already overstretched financially, and should not be subjected to further economic punishment by agencies of government.
The corps marshal and chief executive of FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, had the other day stated, while addressing journalists, that it will no longer fix a deadline for a nationwide enforcement of the new vehicle number plate and driver’s licence. Oyeyemi made the disclosure in Abuja, after a strategic retreat for its zonal commanders.
According to him, following the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the FRSC is not setting any deadline; rather, it is going to be a “circle period”. “Once your driver’s licence expires, you go back and renew your vehicle licence” and in the process, cut over to the new plate number. Although the commission now has the blessing of the Court of Appeal to collect fines from erring motorists, it should live up to its billing, not as a revenue generating or punitive agency, but as an apparatus to safeguard lives on the roads, including encouraging best driving practices.
Ultimately, the Federal government should be well advised to observe true federalism such that the states are more involved in issuing vehicle and drivers’ particulars. It should be the prerogative of the states to issue vehicle particulars. The FRSC shifted from its primary responsibility to help the states do their job. Since some of the processes of issuing vehicle number plates were permitted by the states, getting the instruments has become easier. The same principle of decentralisation should apply to drivers’ licences to make the process faster. There is also a need to increase the number of licencing offices in a place like Lagos with nearly 40 per cent of vehicles registered in Nigeria; and to increase the capacity of the existing ones. Every local government council ought to have at least a work station
The FRSC should de-emphasise monetary issues and focus on its primary assignment of maintaining road safety, discouraging over-speeding, keeping decrepit vehicles off the highways, keeping close tabs on trailers whose carelessness in many respects have caused fatal accidents, and generally educating and enlightening motorists on safety issues. Culled from the Guardian.