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Between 1975 and 1980, Yorkshire in northern England
was the scene of sensational crimes involving the serial murder of 13 women
most of whom were sex workers. The murders made headlines around the world
because for five years the police failed to detect the criminal or criminals
behind these atrocities. Finally, the mysterious monster dubbed “the Yorkshire
Ripper” was arrested on January 2, 1981. His name was Peter Sutcliffe, a truck
driver who lived in a quiet sub-urban home in Bradford with his wife. The
unmasking of the Yorkshire ripper was achieved by routine traffic surveillance:
a police patrol keeping watch in the red light district of Sheffield spotted a
man sitting in a car with a known prostitute; a routine check through the
national vehicle registration databank showed that the licence number plates of
the car did not match the registration details of the vehicle. The rest, as
they say, is history.
Since
Osita Chidoka, was appointed corps marshal and chief executive of the Federal
Road Safety Commission (FRSC) last year in the twilight of the Obasanjo
administration, there has been great optimism that at least the FRSC would
complete the digital revolution which it began but failed to accomplish. The dust
raised by forces opposed to his appointment had hardly settled when the young
man unfolded his blueprint top of which was a plan to restore the integrity of
Unified Licensing Scheme (ULS) and National Vehicles Identification Scheme
(NVIS). Other goals which he thrust forward that boosted hope in his ability to
restore the Commission to its founding vision included plans to maintain a
credible database of all drivers in Nigeria and to develop a robust Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) network.
Indeed,
the FRSC was one of the earliest federal agencies to embrace ICT. The idea
behind ULS was to unify vehicle and driver licensing in Nigeria in order to
create a national databank so that authorized personnel would have instant
access to a vehicle or motorists’ records: vehicle registration particulars,
national driver’s license including endorsements, basic medical records (age,
sex, height, blood group, disabilities, etc). Similar schemes have long
operated in developed and even developing countries with positive implications
for road safety management and crime control. Today, the greatest failure of
the FRSC is it’s inability to realize this target with the result that it is
still possible for any person living or dead to obtain multiple driver’s
licenses, to register a vehicle in as many states or local governments as he
pleases or to operate a motor vehicle with a fake registration plate without
detection! The issuance of drivers’ licenses remains a huge racket for road
safety officers, revenue officials and the touts that litter licensing offices.
While
the nation waited for FRSC to end this national embarrassment, last February
the commision rolled out the drums, blew trumpets and recycled old ideas to
herald the 20th year of it’s of existence. Throughout that month,
the commission went into a self- adulating stunt to promote it’s
achievements. Without a functional ULS, with the spate of ghastly road
traffic accidents and motorized crimes occurring in every corner of the
federation taking the lives of citizens of every social stratum, many wondered
what it was exactly the FRSC was celebrating. Now that the party is over and
the officers and men have recovered from the natural hangover that follows such
a shindig, the nation still waits for the FRSC to wipe off the shame of a ULS
gone awry.
The
FRSC was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria vide Decree 45 of
1988 amended by Decree 35 of 1992 otherwise known as FRSC Act cap 146, Laws of
the Federation (1990). The functions of the FRSC is to make the highways safe
for motorists and other roads users: to recommend to the Federal Ministry of
Works & Housing (FMWH) works and devises designed to minimize accident on
the highways; to educate motorists and the general public on road discipline;
to design the driver’s license to be used by all vehicle operators; to
determine from time to time, the requirement to be satisfied by an applicant
for a driver’s license; to design vehicle plate identification numbers and to
control the use of speed limiting devises; and to standardize the highway
traffic code.
Other
statutory functions of the FRSC include clearing of obstructions on any part of
the highways; provision of prompt attention and care to victims of accidents;
conducting researches into motor accidents – causes and preventive methods -
and putting the results of such researches to use; co-operating with bodies
engaged in road safety activities; performing such other functions as may, from
time to time, be assigned to the corps by the commission.
Thus,
though road safety and traffic control are regarded as being on the concurrent
list, the FRSC remains the principal organ vested with road safety planning,
administration and enforcement in Nigeria. How has FRSC fared in these duties
in the 20 years? That is the question! Inadequate funding and other logistic
difficulties have been the bane of the commission but these problems have been
receiving attention since the advent of the present regime.
At
20, therefore, new ideas and “new” strategies may be brought up to facilitate
the fast-tracking of the FRSC for greater efficiency in the performance of its
core duties. But it must be remembered that the FRSC has never been short of
ideas. Nor has Nigeria ever taken the backseat at brainstorming sessions on
road safety. As the current head of the African sub group of International Road
Safety Organizations (GPA-PRI), Nigeria plays a leadership role in road safety
matters. But can the FRSC in all honesty play leadership roles and expect to be
taken seriously when it is unable to restore the integrity of something as
simple as a drivers’ license which has become so bastardized that it is now
difficult to distinguish between the real one and the fake? Today, private and
commercial vehicle drivers defy FRSC officers with impunity: who worries about
road marshals when it is easy to abandon a driver’s license impounded at an
FRSC checkpoint and to obtain a new one without fuss?
uchebush@yahoo.com;
0805 1090 050
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Posted by Robot| 15.04.2008 20:23