Standardize driver’s licence issuance process

On 14 October 2023, Daily Trust Saturday, published an exclusive on how law enforcement agents and personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC)-designated driving schools within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are working together to compromise the country’s driving standards.

FRSC, being lead agency in traffic management and administration in Nigeria, is empowered by Section 5 (f) of the FRSC Establishment Acts 2007 and further strengthened by Regulations 33 (1b) and 33 (1c) of the National Road Traffic Regulations (2012) to regulate the activities of driving schools. Data shows that there are 91 FRSC-approved driving schools within the FCT.

But the story unearthed how FRSC, Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), popularly known as Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and driving schools compromise the driver’s licence procedure and allow under-aged and unqualified drivers behind the wheels, with their attendant consequences.

With this, people with no driving experience could be issued a driving certificate, one of the first requirements for a driver’s licence by the FRSC. According to the story, these happen, especially with the payment of amounts far higher than the government-approved rate. They also get accelerated service, with or without any driving experience or test.

Reacting to the report, the Association of Driving Instructors of Nigeria (ADIN) vowed to investigate and expose any of its members involved in cutting corners during the process of obtaining driving school certificates.

ADIN President, Alhaji Umar Musa, expressed displeasure with the attitude of some “unscrupulous elements alleged to be involved in shady ways of cutting corners unknown to the association,” vowing to unravel the “cartel and unveil them, no matter how highly placed.”

Ordinarily, Nigerians desirous of obtaining a driving licence are to attend training at an accredited driving school after which the school will present the candidate to a Vehicle Inspection Officer (VIO) for a driving test. The candidate, after passing the driving test and obtaining a certificate of proficiency from the VIO is to complete the driver’s licence application form at the Driver’s Licence Centre (DLC) before being issued with a licence.

After the payment of the applicable fees at the Board of Internal Revenue and biometric data capture at the FRSC and issued a temporary driver’s licence, the candidate is expected to pick up the original driver’s licence after 60 days.

But in reality, you can either obtain new drivers’ licence by enduring all the frustration, time-wasting antics of officials and finally obtaining it legitimately or you collude with officers to beat the system in order to obtain a valid licence in a short time or getting a fake licence.

Colluding with officials or obtaining fake licence means that the intending applicant parts with certain amount of money. With this, officials of the driving schools in connivance with the VIO mandated to engage in the training and testing of drivers before they are issued licences, are ready to subvert the process and issue even without any driving experience.

It is shameful that corrupt government officials connive with accredited driving schools to subvert the process by issuing documents to unqualified drivers, thereby contributing to the prevalence of road crashes.

Globally, World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics shows that an estimated 1.3million people die annually as a result of road traffic accidents, with Africa leading with the highest death rates. Nigeria is topping the African list with the most traffic deaths and injuries.

Data from FRSC Statistics-Digest showed that over 11, 361 persons were killed and 65,814 wounded due to road accidents in 2022. At the 7th United Nations Global Road Safety Week last May, Corp Marshal of FRSC, Dauda Biu, said road traffic crashes were the leading cause of deaths and disability in the country. Biu blamed human factor as the leading cause of the accidents, buoyed largely by the activities of numerous but undocumented and unqualified drivers.

In Q2 2022, a total of 3,282 road traffic crashes were recorded. On a year-on-year basis, traffic crashes grew by 3.05% from the same period of the previous year.

The total number of vehicles involved in road traffic crashes stood at 5,263 in Q2 2022, lower compared to 5,316 in Q1 of 2022. Moreso, of these crashes, commercial vehicles were mostly affected with 3,396 (34.20%) relative to other categories of vehicles such as private, government and diplomatic. 

The development is worrisome.  It clearly shows a laissez-faire attitude of supervisory organisations and this should not be so.

Therefore, we call for stricter regulations in the process of driver’s licence issuance, especially at the procedural driving school levels and tests by the regulatory agencies. Various checks must be put in place to forestall racketeering. We also call for standardization of operations for all driving schools and the enforcement therein. We equally appeal to the conscience of officials involved in the drivers’ licence issuance process to realize that human life is involved in any decision they take. They would help in ensuring the respect for sanctity of life by taking the right decisions instead of placing priority on personal enrichment at the expense of societal wellbeing. We call on the organisations to punish anyone caught circumventing the process to serve as deterrent to others. All hands must be on deck to address this menace