The Nigerian Senate Wants To Put An Age Limit On Driver’s License Acquisition

In 2016, Nigeria recorded 11,363 road accidents, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). And according to The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), 90% of the road accidents were as a result of intoxication – alcohol, drugs etc. Speed violation, loss of control and dangerous driving accounted for the rest.

But last week Tuesday, the Nigerian senate called for the enforcement of a new age limit in the acquisition of driver’s licenses, as a way to check reckless driving. They also called for mandatory short term courses for prospective drivers across the country.

The senate asked the Committee on Transport to summon stakeholders on road safety matters to ensure that drivers possessed the necessary qualifications in addition to being able to read, write and communicate effectively in English. The motion was raised by Senator Umaru Kurfi (Katsina-APC).

Senator Kurfi whose motion was titled “Need to address the low level of literacy among drivers in Nigeria” has just about had it with the level of illiteracy among drivers in the country. He claimed that many drivers employed to drive in Nigeria’s public and private sectors do not possess necessary qualifications to make them employable. He’s also worried that the drivers do not possess basic reading and writing skills:

“The alarming rate of road accidents can be attributed largely to the recklessness and low level of literacy among drivers. The drivers have little or no knowledge of semiotic signs that guide the use of roads. It is even a challenge to identify the various particulars assigned to their vehicles and this has given rise to forgery and fake documentation of car particulars. 

The high rate of road accidents caused by motorcycles popularly known as “okada’’ is not news any longer. The use of okada has become such a menace that some cities in the country had to ban it. It is appalling to note that okada riders on close scrutiny, are children, some less than 18 years and with very little or no education on navigation and understanding of road signs and their applications.”

Senator Kurfi advised employers to carry out due diligence when employing drivers, and also advised that the thoroughness and details applied in assessing applicants for employment for high-level offices should also be applied when considering drivers for employment.

The rest of the lawmakers called for the prosecution of drivers whose reckless driving resulted in injury or loss of lives of other road users.

So here’s the deal, the legal age to be sold alcohol in Nigeria is 18, so if you have to be 18 to get a driver’s license, you are at the perfect age to drink and drive. So enforcing an age limit – which already exists by the way, it’s also 18 – doesn’t reduce the risk of reckless driving. In fact, logically, the recklessness rate will remain about the same.

Also, we need to understand that the reason why so many people are not as literate as we would expect them to be is the fault of the government. These are the same lawmakers who invest less in education and way more in oil, and in frivolous motions like this one. The thoroughness and attention to detail applied in assessing applicants for employment for high level offices cannot be applied when considering drivers for employment because nothing about the roles at the same.

We would assume that this much is obvious to them, but here we are. Again.