The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, recently introduced a new driver license and vehicle number plate as part of measures to reduce death on the highways. But the House of Representatives ordered the suspension of the projects citing the need to investigate the issuance of the two documents by the commission. KAZEEM AKINTUNDE, in this piece takes a look at the issues and proffers the way forward.
They were a couple for only eight days. Mr. and Mrs. Adeyemo were still savoring the frills and thrills of the newlywed when death came calling. They had left their home on a fateful Sunday evening to take a stroll in the neigbourhood and to buy Suya, the tasty roasted beef, on their way home, when a teenage driver who had lost control of the car hit them from behind, killing the wife on the spot. The husband was rushed to a private hospital but the trauma of losing his wife eventually led to his death.
The parents of the victims were too traumatized to press charges against the boy and that was how the case was forgotten.
The Adeyemo’s are not the only Nigerians who have lost their lives to reckless and dangerous driving in the country. On Monday, penultimate? week, 18 people were roasted alive when the vehicle they were traveling in had a head-on collision with another vehicle? around Ore, Ondo State.
In Nigeria, getting reliable statistics to work with is practically impossible. While the World Health Organisation, WHO, stated that an average of 32,000 Nigerians loses their lives yearly to road accidents, the FRSC stated that only an average of 5,000 persons die from road carnage.
The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, recently released a frightening statistics on road accidents in the country. According to the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive officer of the FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka, in the four months December 2009 and March 2010, 7, 737 road accidents were recorded in the country.
This, he said, resulted in the death of about 1,056 persons. These figures are alarming considering the fact that the actual figure may be higher than what has been given by the FRSC.
The grim statistics mirror the global death toll on roads which is currently put at 1.2 million annually. According to the Corps Marshal, who revealed these figures at a recent National Stakeholder Forum on Road Safety, the causes include bad roads, drunk-driving and non-adherence to road safety rules and regulations.
Within the four month period, 2,252 vehicles were involved in road accidents with over 5,000 persons reportedly injured.
In a bid to reduce death on our roads, the FRSC, as far back as 2008, began toying with the idea of having a new National Drivers’ License and Number plates as a possible means of reducing the carnage on the roads. Many senior members of the agency became uncomfortable by the way and manner Nigerians acquired the driver’s license and number plates. The activities of touts and middlemen had also rendered all the checks and balances imbued into the system ineffective.
People sit in the comfort of their homes and still get the driver’s license. Many Nigerians who have never held a steering wheel have the driver’s license.
Indeed, many underage Nigerians have the document which has made driving in most of our major cities on weekends more precarious as most of the underage drivers have access to their parent’s car which significantly increases the number of road accident on weekends.
Aside from that, many Nigerians have difficulties driving outside the shores of the country as our driver’s license is not recognized in most advanced countries. To be able to drive a car in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, Nigerians need to undergo another rigorous driving lesson before they could obtain a driver’s license there. It does not matter whether you have been driving in Nigeria for 100 years without recording a single road accident against your name.
It was for these reasons that the FRSC began work on giving the nation a well secured driver’s license which would enable the holder to drive a car in any part of the world.
Top management staff of the FRSC, were happy when on Friday September 2, last year, President Goodluck Jonathan formally launched the new National Drivers License and number plates.
At the launch of the new scheme which took place in Abuja, President Jonathan said his government was pleased that FRSC had delivered on the promise to introduce a credible driver’s license that met international standards.
“Restoring the integrity of the driver’s license aligns fully with the transformation agenda of this government, it is at the heart of the efforts to alter a culture of recklessness, impunity and lack of consideration for other road users and to transform these negative traits to a positive affirmation of a rule – driven society.
He said his government has invested in technology, people and processes that would not only restore the integrity of the driver’s license but also provide the nation with a credible database of drivers and vehicles.
As a means of checking under age and those who have not been properly trained to drive vehicles, President Jonathan said government would soon begin the implementation of the Driving Schools Standardization Programme (DSSP) that stipulated that only accredited driving schools must sponsor all fresh applicants for driver’s licence.
But few months after the president launched the scheme, it ran into troubled waters. The House of Representatives directed that the scheme should be suspended. The motion from the house followed the outcry from members of the public over the fees charged by the FRSC for those wishing to obtain the two documents.
While the new driver license is priced at N 6,000, new vehicle number plate starts from N 15, 000, and could go as high as N 40, 000 depending on vehicle type and category of number plate desired. This is a far cry from the old figure of N 3, 000 for the old driver’s license and between N 7, 000 and N 50, 000 for the old Number plates.
Many Nigerians see no reason why they should be compelled to change their number plates at such outrageous sum.
But the FRSC has continued to insist that the decision to change the number plates and driver’s license was in the interest of the country. Though the agency agrees that about N192 billion would accrue to all the tiers of government participating in the scheme, it insisted that the major objective was the security of every road users.
The new number plates, it was learnt, are tied to the owner as they have tamper-proof VIT tags, web printed proof of ownership certificate and are backed by investments in IT infrastructure for verification. It would be easier for all the law enforcement agencies to trace owner of any car or vehicles used in committing any crime in any part of the country.
The new drivers’ license again, can only be obtained by new applicants after they have passed a standard driving test. Current holders of drivers’ licenses that can be traced on the FRSC’s database would however, be exempted from having to do the driving test
The scheme, unfortunately, had to be suspended when the House of Representatives directed the FRSC to stop the two projects pending an investigation. But does the House of Representatives have the power to give instructions to an agency of the executive arm of government?
Section 88 of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly to conduct investigation into matters on which it has powers of legislation. But nowhere does the Constitution give it powers to order, direct or instruct agencies of the Executive Arm of government. The doctrine of separation of powers vests in the President the latitude to direct, instruct and manage all agencies of the executive.
It is also a settled matter in law that the power to investigate cannot be confused with the power of law enforcement. The legislature makes laws, but only the executive is empowered to enforce those laws
By instructing the FRSC to suspend the issuance of the new drivers’ license and number plates, the House of Representatives is indirectly usurping the powers of the President.
The best approach to the issue is for the House of Representatives to liase with the agency to look at the possibility of reducing the fees rather than stopping the FRSC from going ahead with the project.
It is when there is a tight measure put in place in the issuance of driver license that the parents of Mr. and Mrs. Adeyemo would be consoled that their children had not died in vain.