Say No to High Cost of New Plate Number NEW PLATE NUMBER AND THE HIGH COST OF CHANGING FROM CURRENT TO PROPOSED ONE; A CALL FOR ACTION The recent change of vehicle Plate numbers in Nigeria and the high cost of replacing the already paid for old Plate numbers for the new ones is something that should be of concern to all vehicle owners, all Nigerians and all those living in Nigeria and have the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians at heart. In Nigeria, vehicles are registered with Plate numbers that are for these vehicles. As such when the vehicles are sold to another person, the numbers are sold with the vehicles. By this method, the new owner of the vehicle uses the same Plate number on the vehicle. This implies that the vehicle retains the same number as long as it is on the road and the number is never assigned to any other vehicle. Nigeria has changed Plate number as far as I can remember about six times most of which were necessitated by adjustments in our federating structure through the creation of new states. All these while the system of vehicles owning their numbers has been the practice. This is a practice common in countries like America, Netherlands, and most African countries. In recent time, Nigeria has changed vehicle Plate numbers three times without any adjustment to the state structure and without any meaningful impact to the welfare or security situation of Nigeria and Nigerians. Also in the last two changes of Plate Numbers, vehicles retain their plate numbers and are gone with them. But from what I read from a newspaper, the newly introduced Plate number is supposed to be a departure from this norm as the Plate numbers are not supposed to be for cars but for people. If this is true, it means that when you sell your car, you remove your Plate number and put it in any other car you buy whether already registered in Nigeria or not. This system is being practiced in countries like Belgium. The two systems if well implemented and people oriented work well. The fear about using the new system in Nigeria is that we lack the structure to implement it. The basics are not there at all. Nigeria is a country where there are no demographic records. I stand to be corrected if I opine that there is no accurate record of Nigerians, what they do and where they live. In the countries that we copy for these systems, law enforcement agents (normally Police) do not have to stop you or meet you before they fine you for traffic offences. They just pick your vehicle plate number and send the fine to your address. In these countries, their roads are good with road markings and necessary road signs. In these countries, traffic laws are enforced just by the Police. In these countries, the roads are free from hooligans and tax/levy collectors. In these countries, their Police do not go looking for offences where there are none just to extort money from motorists. Also in these countries, their laws are no respecter or molester of persons. One can go on and on. Taking us to memory lane, but without going too far, we remember when the Police command under Balogun introduced the CMR meaning Computerized (or is it Centralized) Motor Registration with Police Report. People were forced to pay for this for every car so that all vehicles will be registered in one central computerized system with their owners data, engine and chassis numbers. The idea is to curb theft to vehicles. Yet, vehicles that have these CMR are stolen and are issued CMR and also re-stolen and still get CMR. This means that not even manual documentation were being kept. Then came the Plate number that we are using now which we have been told will no longer be in use from October 1 this 2013. We were made to believe that the Plate number that is being changed is computerized to guarantee security and safety on the roads. This was said to justify the high cost of the Plate number then. Recent development shows that there was nothing like that. By last year, the music changed to E-coding where motorists are fleeced of two thousand naira N2000 and given coded black thing to screw to their front plate number which carried the identity of their cars. Thus computerized numbers are being re-computerized. Yet, in almost all road check points, nobody had the machine to read the code. All these are forms of extortion, intimidation, day robberies or what I can call People deceiving people and playing on their intelligence. In line with the above, I make bold to assert that the latest move to once more rob Nigerians of their hard earned money is totally unacceptable and should be condemned by every right thinking Nigerian and people living in Nigeria. The current Plate number is the same as the one they are introducing except for the Nigerian map and green boarder on the down part. As such, vehicles that have the old numbers should be allowed to die with them or at worst these old numbers be exchanged with the new ones for a minimal fee.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:22:44 +0000
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