FRSC has no power to issue drivers’ licence on october 09, 2013 at 2:51 am in conference hall BY HUGO ODIOGOR, KUNLE KALEJAYE, VERA ANYAGAFU Introduction: With the October deadline on phasing out the old drivers licence and plate number for vehicles, agencies of government in Lagos State have found it lucrative to pounce on vehicles on the road to challenge owners or drivers of such cars to produce their driver’s licence. The Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO, and Nigeria Police especially have in such circumstance declared as “fake”, drivers licences issued by FRSC causing their victims to part with huge sums of money. Vanguard Conference Hall has taken up the issue of Road Traffic Management and Law Enforcement on Lagos State roads. Exercpt: MODERATOR: You are welcome to Vanguard Conference Hall, which is our public policy platform and interactive forum to engag on issues of public interest. Hugo Odiogor It is a platform we devote to interface with the public, let the people know what Vanguard is thinking, what the issues are and we also let the public know what we are doing. Sir, you are welcome to this event. We are really concerned about road traffic management in Lagos recently because there are a lot of agencies that we see on the road. We will still ask the management to give us the opportunity to bring you back to the table and discuss this issue with you. We see lot of agencies and enforcement on the road. As at today, the man who was meant to represent road transport workers says he does not want to be trapped in the traffic because he was here two days ago and he did not find it funny. So we want to start by saying, what does the VIO do in managing its own responsibilities? Engr. Toriola:I want to firstly commend you for your effort in finding solution by giving us feedback. Whatever you are doing, you need people to give you feedback whether you are doing it well or not and the areas you need to improve on. Criticising government When you write and you criticise the government objectively, that will move the state forward. For us, it is a welcome development because we take feedback as a plus to us to improve on our services. Recently, on August 2, 2012, the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, signed a new law in order to have sanity, safety, security and standards in Lagos metropolis. Our road needs to be safer while the commuters move in and out. Before you can re-address this, the law also stated clearly the responsibilities of different agencies of government, which are the LASMA, Vehicle Inspection Service, VIS. Before now, we were called VIO, it was the law that changed our name to VIS, that is; Vehicle Inspection Service. LASMA still retains their own name. The law at the same time specified the duties of each agency. LASMA is to manage traffic, VIS is to ensure that we have road worthy vehicles on the road. That is why you see our men doing periodic or daily check on our roads. Secondly, we ensure that motorists obtain the necessary particulars. That is what we call road levies, which include the vehicle licence, the hackney permit, the road worthiness and to ensure that the driver is also competent. That is, they have a valid driving licence. That is top on our list. From our studies, we have observed that most of the drivers that we have on the road do not have a genuine driver’s licence. What they do is that they give somebody money and photograph to do their driving licence for them. You cannot get a driver’s licence by proxy; you have to be physically present in our office to do your test. That is biometrics where we would take all your data like the finger prints, eye test and others. Participants at the conference: From left-Mrs Vera Anyagafu, Engr. A. Adebosin, Engr.Gboyega Toriola, Hugo Odiogor, Barr. Chijioke Ndubisi and Mr. Victor Omoregie. Photos: Bunmi Azeez Also, we have what is called road worthiness. We are taking the responsibility to their door step, especially companies so that they can at least meet the minimum requirement. People write about latching that we lash. Latching is not the key word. What you need to do is to hook it. It is when the system body is not effective that is when you lash it with a rope but the ideal thing to do is to hook it. So, we take these campaigns to them and all these tank farms to ensure that their vehicles are road worthy and that they are maintained to the required standard. Like I have said, before issuing driving licence, we do testing. We are the middle men, it an arrangement where you have three agencies involved in one product and what is the product? Driver’s Licence. In those days before the era of the former president, Babangida, it was a state affair. After the creation of FRSC, they said, ‘do your normal work, but you must go to the federal level where they will capture your data’, because they want to have biodata base of all intending drivers and drivers in the country. The state MVAA, that is Motor Vehicle Association Agency are the ones that will sell the form to you or you will go to our website nigeriadriverlicence.org and apply online for your driver’s licence. You can also verify online whether what we have is genuine or not. From there, you can fill the form and download online but you can come to our office. After concluding your payment, you will come to VIS for your test. Downloading online You have one very close to you here at Apapa where your will do the test to ensure that you are competent enough to handle the wheel. After you have finished with the VIS, they will now take you to the FRSC to do your biometric for you and capture you so that they can have your data. When they are through, they will now give you a temporary driving licence. After 60 days, you will now come back to our office to get the product. FRSC only do the biometric alone, they produce for us. It is like you have a product, you give it to someone to produce for you. The signature on that driver’s licence shows the authority of the state government on that driver’s licence. I sign on behalf of the state government. The state chief VIO in the country signs on behalf of their state government. FRSC produces for the state. It is in line with what I have said earlier that FRSC do the biometric and produce for the state and they return it to the state to give the applicant. In line with the law, VIS is the issuer of driver’s licence and we also do what is called accident inspection. If your vehicle has an accident on the road, it is the duty of the police to determine the offender, who is at fault. Vehicle inspection Our role is to determine the cause of the accident. Prior to the accident, was the vehicle road worthy? And before the vehicle goes back to the road, the police will have to call us to inspect the vehicle and confirm that the vehicle has been repaired before it is taken back to the road. On the driving school issue, we certify them in conjunction with the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute. We have what is called LASDRI, if you want to go to a driving school, you must apply to the LagosState government, then LASDRI in collaboration with VIO will inspect the facility because we have a standard. We have instructors, who will take you round the facility. LagosState has a certification school called LASDRI for professional drivers, those who earn a living from driving. If I drive myself without a driver, am a driver, but once you have a person earning living from driving like commercial bus drivers or your company bus driver, you must go to LASDRI and before they can go to LASDRI, they must have a driving licence. That is the pre- condition before they can go to LASDRI. These are the summary of what we do. We have five LASDRI in LagosState. If you commit a traffic offence, you must go back to LASDRI for further training. The law specified that. LASDRI has a law that says that before you drive as a professional driver, you must visit LASDRI yearly for further enlightenment or training. Apart from having a driver’s licence, you must visit LASDRI for training and everything. You must go there at least once a year for certification. LASDRI was set up to change the orientation of drivers, to change the way they drive, having the right attitude. You know that we have a lot of drivers in Lagos Stae, but traffic management is dynamic, it is not static.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 05:32:39 +0000
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