Lagos, FRSC and driver’s licence

THE recent announcement by the Lagos State government of its intention to produce and issue its own driver’s licence has been criticised by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). The FRSC saw the plan of the Lagos State government to issue licences to motorists in the state as a dangerous precedent that could vitiate the Commission’s enforcement of safe driving culture in the country. The FRSC is also of the view that driver’s licence is a very sensitive document that may have serious implications for national security, if it is left in the hands of state governments. The vehicle number plate and the driver’s licence, according to the FRSC, were security-based articles whose issuance it — the Commission – was not willing to relinquish to state governments.

THE FRSC, obviously, wants to retain the status quo in the issuance of number plate and driver’s licence by querying the authority of the Lagos State government to enforce its rights as a federating unit of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Specifically, the issuance of driver’s licence is not mentioned in the nation’s constitution. And this, by implication, makes the task of issuing licence a residual subject, which is vested in the state government. In other words, the rightful authority to issue driver’s licence, according to the Nigerian Constitution, is not the Federal Government; it is the state government. And this, indeed, was the situation before the establishment of the FRSC and the introduction of uniform driver’s licence. The states had always been in total control of the production and the issuance of this vital document.

THOUGH these articles are being released to them by the FRSC, the states, till date, still collect fees for both driver’s licence and vehicle number plates. If this is the position, what then is the rationale for the federal control of the issuance of the driver’s licence? Or is the FRSC suggesting that it is safer for the Federal Government to handle the issuance of licence than for the states to produce it? No one, except perhaps the FRSC, will believe this line because the Commission cannot be said to have managed the issuance of driver’s licence and vehicle number plates effectively. Artificial scarcity leading to racketeering and profiteering have characterised FRSC’s handling of these important and sensitive articles. Therefore, on account of security and effectiveness, the FRSC cannot reasonably convince the public that it is doing a good job and thus wish to sustain the status quo.

IN a properly constituted federal arrangement, there would not have been any need for controversy about the roles of both the federal and the state governments. The constitution would have carefully spelt out the functions of each unit of government. But the nation’s long misadventure with military rule has forced the erroneous idea of unitary system of government into the subconscious of many a Nigerian. Individual and public institutions tend to believe that everything must be approved by the central government before it is deemed valid and/or authentic.

THE nation’s leaders have for long exploited this subversion of the principle of federalism to create subservient units. It is this subversion that has led to the ongoing armed resistance in the Niger Delta, which had begun as a regional quest for resource control.

THE principle of federalism holds that each of the federating units has its rights and duties which are clearly spelt out in the constitution. The abridgement of these rights, including the absence of fiscal federalism, was a creation of the military but this unacceptable position is being further buoyed by the complacency of the state governments.  It is not surprising that the central government, even in this democratic dispensation, is giving a tacit encouragement to this anomaly in the federal structure. The Federal Government is the major beneficiary of the bastardised federal structure and undoubtedly will like to retain its illegal hold on the federating units by treating them as hangers-on.

THE zonal commander, Zone 2 of the FRSC, Mr. Chike Nwaka, has insinuated that Lagos State government was motivated by pecuniary consideration and not by the stated reasons of monitoring and keeping records of vehicular ownership and movements in the state.  But it will be difficult to believe that the condemnation of the Lagos State government’s plan by the FRSC boss did not stem from the loss of revenue and control that would become the lot of the FRSC should the plan of the Lagos State government succeed. Even if the state sees the issuance of driver’s licence as a means of revenue generation, the FRSC cannot claim to have a greater stake in the security and regulation of motoring in Lagos than the government of the state.   The plan of the Lagos State government is constitutional and it should go ahead to issue licences to motorists in its territory, even if the motive, among others, is to assert its rights under the extant laws of the land.

THE FRSC has no right, as it is threatening, to impound vehicles of motorists carrying state’s driver’s licences whether they are plying state or federal roads. Part of the mandate of the FRSC is to regulate motoring on the nation’s roads, enforce safe driving culture and sanction careless and reckless motorists whether or not they have states’ or FRSC’s driver’s licences. The FRSC should not block or frustrate the effort of any state that may want to produce and issue its driver’s licence because that would be unlawful. It should rather focus on the execution of its mandate and welcome states that are planning to relieve it of the burden of issuing driver’s licence which has been  a distraction to the commission.     

ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART

THE world rose recently to celebrate 50 years of Professor Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece,
Things Fall Apart. Nigerian authors, under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), also rolled out the drums to celebrate one of Africa’s greatest griots.

BUT throughout the celebration, there were complaints about the Nigerian government’s indifference towards the celebration. While the people of other lands saw the touch of genius in the work of Achebe and in the man himself, the government of his country was rather silent, it was said.

BUT there is an explanation for the attitude of government and why it might not have seen anything worthy of celebration in Things fall Apart or the man, Achebe. For a novel that is in itself a summary of the low level life has descended in the country, it is better to pretend that such a novel does not exist. The truth is: Nigeria is Things Fall Apart, so, why should anyone celebrate something that is mirroring the collective failure of governance?