LeadershipTalks with Dr.Muiz Banire

Distinguished readers, you are welcome to our weekly leadership discourse. Today I am discussing the nonchallant attitude of the relevant leaders in the transportation industry, particularly those in charge of motor driving regulation, to the issue of safety on our roads. In this regard, I am specifically calling out those responsible for processing and issuance of driver’s license in the country. I am aware that the Federal Road Safety Corps is basically responsible for this, although prior to the issuance, it seems that the handling of the training is by the various licensed driving schools and at times the state government. The assumption is that beyond the ability to drive a vehicle, knowledge of the road signs and rules is critical to the usage of the road. This knowledge seems to be absent in more than ninety percent of the drivers on our roads, the worst culprits being the commercial drivers. The carnage on our roads continue to rise further due to lack of this knowledge on the part of the drivers. As common as yellow box is, they know nothing about it. Some don’t even understand the color codes of the traffic lights much less the difference between broken and unbroken lines on the roads. The meaning of zebra crossing is unknown to the drivers and many more. It is due to this that several accidents maiming and murdering road users continue. To checkmate this, we need to remind the regulators and other stakeholders on the need to acquaint the drivers with this basic knowledge. For the new entrants, there is absolute need to test the knowledge of road signs before the issuance of driver’s license. For those that are already on the roads without the knowledge, there is a need for aggressive enlightenment programs. I recall during my days as Transport Commissioner in Lagos State, I embarked on this campaign through various modes including the television series I tagged roads melecine which treated and exposed drivers to the different road signs. This is urgent! Beyond this, there is urgent need to review and overhaul the process of driver’s license issuance in the country. My experience in other countries is that you pass through two different kinds of evaluation, theory and practical before being considered for the drivers’ license. Our procedure must embrace this including the test of ability to easily detect hazards on the road. Every applicant must be subjected to this rigorous process in order not to continue endangering the other road users. The era of issuing drivers’ licenses to people without any training nor evaluation must stop forthwith. This is the practice and pattern presently in a lot of instances. There is also the urgent need to resolve the controversial issue of, as between the federal government and the various state governments, who is constitutionally empowered to process and issue driving licences. It is upon the resolution of this that things can progress positively. It is also imperative that the various traffic enforcement agencies have driving institute to retrain erring drivers. The essence of leadership as captured in our Constitution is to promote the welfare of the people through ensuring safety of lives and properties. To this end, our leaders need to declare state of emergency on this as the omission is engendering avoidable accidents maiming and claiming lives. This is my intervention today.