Mr . Wobin Ayuba Gora is the Sector Commander of the Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC ) in Bayelsa State . In this interview with
PAULINE ONYIBE, he spoke on the issuance of driving licence among
other pertinent issues. Excerpts …
You are new in Bayelsa State , how do you intend to improve the
activities you met on ground ?
This is my third month . Virtually all the activities I met on ground
are things we do any where we find ourselves and of course we look at
them critically and see how we can improve on them, like the patrol
activities which we are really doing .
The rate at which we are apprehending offenders , we have decided to
change our strategy and before now , we used to have mobile court and
this mobile court , to some extent before the advent of the last
election , the state government put a ban on them but the ban has been
lifted. Very soon we will resume mobile court again and see how we can
track down some of them who are recalcitrant.
We have slots in some media houses especially the electronic media in
the area of sensitisation and public education . We intend to keep
that going and we look forward to other media houses that will give us
such slots because it is only through education that the public will
get to understand what they are expected to do on the highway .
Most of the tricycle operators are not educated , how are you coping with them ?
When I came in , the first thing I did was to invite most of the union
leaders . We had meetings with them and I told them some of the things
I will not tolerate which I believe my predecessor did not tolerate
and some of the things they will do that will make me happy with them.
They all promised to adhere strictly to some of these traffic rules
and regulations . It will interest you to know that the tricycle
operators also have different unions . I have been able to meet with
the executives of the different groups, we had meeting with them and I
have told them the dos and don 'ts on the road .
Any time I 'm also doing public education either in the print or
electronic media , I try as much as possible to use Hausa because
majority of them speak Hausa very well and I thank God that I hear and
I can also speak Hausa .
But I talk mostly in pidgin english like the one I do on NTA , because
pidgin is a common language that everybody understands in this
geographical location. At times I chip in Hausa for the Hausa
listeners to get the message . I won 't say overloading is 100 per
cent eradicated , but I can assure you that 99 per cent of tricycles
in this town don 't overload again.
Tell us some of the challenges you are facing ?
They are enormous . Some of the challenges would be overcome with time
. First and foremost , the patrol vehicles that we have are not too
good , we need sound patrol vehicles . Fueling of these patrol
vehicles is not easy.
Road Safety is not just one person 's business and there is nobody in
Nigeria that will hit his chest and say I have never lost somebody in
a road crash . So, those that God has blessed with financial resources
can assist by making available some of these things we are talking
about.
Are patrol vehicles not supposed to come from the Federal Government ?
Federal Government buy patrol vehicles but you know Federal Government
alone cannot stand the test of all those things at the same time and
that is why we are calling on individuals , philanthropists and state
governments to help .
Some states used to get these things because it is their own state and
it is their own people that we are trying to safe, not to be involved
in road crashes. I have seen governors constructing federal roads
because it is for the use of their people .
So it is in the same vein that this can also be viewed . We need
heavy- duty toe trucks in this state . We have a small toe truck that
can only toe small vehicles . They can 't toe one tipper talk less of
a trailer . We need a 70 tons toe truck in this state . When you look
at these roads , they are not wide enough and you can imagine one of
these vehicles breaking down .
Already , traders have taken over one length of the major roads ,
which is a challenge . These are some of the obstruction we are
experiencing here . Measures are being taken to see how we can go
about it . In fact, the controller in the Federal Ministry of Works is
having a meeting with stakeholders on things like that especially as
it has to do with federal roads .
We are working together to make sure that our roads are free of
traffic and crashes. Even the market we are talking about is a
challenge which we expect the government to see how they can relocate
markets along the roads . If a vehicle loses control , we don ' t know
how many people it will affect .
On the issuance of drivers ' licence , why the marriage between FRSC
and the Board of Internal Revenue ?
The issue of licence is a tripartite arrangement . Tripartite in the
sense that the Board of Internal Revenue , Vehicle Inspection Officers
(VIO ) and the FRSC are all involved the process . Before a license
could be produced for any applicant , there are processes involved.
Let me take a fresh applicant for example .
If you want to obtain a fresh license , it is expected that you should
go to a driving school that is accredited by the FRSC and this driving
school is monitored centrally at the headquarters Abuja . So when
somebody registers with you , you are expected as the proprietor of
the driving school to teach that person the rudiments of traffic rules
and regulations .
When he gets all those ones , he is able to know the road signs, and
having known the road signs , he is also taken to the vehicle
maintenance section , apart from the practical driving instruction
that he will take . Before, driving school proprietors were allowed to
print certificates and keep so that when a person graduates , they
will just write the name and give him the certificate . He will then
proceed to the FRSC office to fill a form, but if he is computer
literate, he can fill the form online and print it out, then go to the
bank and pay the prescribed fee.
How long does it take to complete the process ?
As a fresh applicant you have to pass through a driving school and in
that driving school , you spend 26 hours learning how to drive. In
these 26 hours, you are not supposed to spend more than an hour a day
. That onehour means you are spending about 26 days in a driving
school , after which you can be on the road if the proprietor is
satisfied that you are done.
That certificate automatically drops in the portal of the proprietor
from the FRSC headquarters because it is centrally monitored .He can
then print it out and hand it over to the trainee, it is that
certificate that that enables the trainee to start processing the
driving licence .
By the time he or she gets to our office and demands to get a license
, they will now fill the form for him as a fresh applicant , print it
out, give him to go to the bank and pay the proscribed fee of N6 , 350
. When he pays that , he collects the teller with the form and meet
the VIO attached to our office where these licences are printed .
The VIO will put him to test either for practical or ask him about
road signs. When you fail one, it is as good as you can cause a crash.
If the VIO is satisfied with all that you have done, he will approve
the form that they can give you the driving licence . You will enter
the licencing centre where you will be captured physically .
Immediately they finish capturing , the temporary licence will be
printed. That one is as good as having a valid driving licence .
Within 60 days , the permanent one would have come from Abuja because
it is printed centrally too. But today it does not even take more than
30 days for the permanent one to come . But we still give the benefit
of doubt of 60 days .
How about renewal?
Renewal does not go the trend of the fresh . For renewal, all you need
to do is fill the form, go to the bank and pay N6 , 350 and you come
back to the VIO who might ask you some questions , if you are okay,
since you had a licence before, he will approve your form. They will
print the temporary one and give you . Within 60 days , you will be
given the permanent one . We will collect the temporary one and issue
the permanent one. When it is lost you have to do the needy , like the
police report and affidavit , etc.
Is it because the process is rigorous that makes people bypass the
system by bribing officials ?
That is the problem we have with most Nigerians today. You arrest a
person and he sits in his car and say , ' come I want you to go and do
driving licence for me. How much will it cost ?' Some people will
quickly jump for it , and say 'when do you want it ' and he will say '
tomorrow'.
They will collect huge amount like N30 , 000 and issue him a fake
licence , which looks exactly like the original . At the end of the
day when we get them arrested, they start complaining and threatening.
Because people don ' t want to follow due process they get into the
hands of the bad ones where their money will go . I 'm not exonerating
some staff of FRSC from that , because in every 12 there might be a
Judas .
If 90 per cent of our staff is good perhaps 10 per cent is not good .
Don 't also forget there are people that are not our staff that will
come within the environment and hang around , these people are those
that go into fake driving licence deal . And you hardly see them
wearing uniform . They would have made one or two friends by coming
around , and the person whose licence is to be collected will not tell
you .
They would have told him ; 'when you come to so so place , call me, I
will come out from my office and give you '. That is where I blame
some people; you must know their offices . But ask these people; they
will tell you 'we met in a place '. Let me also alert the public that
any body that collects your passport photograph is going to give you a
fake driving licence .
Visit FRSC office , sit down , follow the due process , they will snap
you and then print . We have a digital system that will take your
thumbprint and you sign , and the temporary one will be produced But
unfortunately you get them from the same office . Our driving licence
center is located in the ministry .
As we speak now , we have our staff on surveillance monitoring every
activity. If any of our staff goes there with any thing at all , we
get the person arrested . As we arrest you , we are sending you to
Abuja straight , the way people are interpreting the process is not as
difficult as people think .
How can a layman differentiate between an original and fake driving licence ?
It is very simple , if somebody asks you for your passport photograph,
he is going to produce a fake licence for you . If you are not
captured, if FRSC officials with uniform did not capture you and if
immediately you are captured they did not print out a temporary one it
is a fake licence .
What level of offences can make a person face your mobile court or go to jail ?
Normally when we are embarking on a mobile court , it is a patrol to
fish out people who are offenders who don 't obey traffic rules and
regulations . In a mobile court , we don 't bother ourselves whether
you have a license or not , it is like a stop and search patrol to
make sure that those things that you need to have in your vehicle are
there. If one of those things is not there, we will arraign you before
the magistrate after booking you for the offence you have committed .
We have a magistrate in the mobile court and we do it along the road .
We have lawyers given to us by the state that prosecute those people .
Once you are booked for a fake license , we arraign you before the
magistrate because we will hold your vehicle until the magistrate
frees you .
The fine for fake driving licence is N20 , 000 . They pay the fine to
the magistrate not to us . The money goes to the state government
while a certain percentage comes to the FRSC , which takes care of the
logistics. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse .
The fact that you did not meet a road safety official one on one does
not mean you should not follow due process to get what you want . Don'
t cut corners . It is trying to cut corners that is making people to
fall prey to these fraudsters .
When on patrol , if we have a recalcitrant driver that drives
dangerously and we are not comfortable , may be during the course of
arresting him he assaulted our staff , we will arraign such a person
straight before the magistrate court .
If he pleads not guilty, the magistrate orders he be put in prison
remand for two weeks. If he comes and out plead guilty they will then
convict . You can pay an option of fine , which is N50 , 000 ; assault
is N10 , 000 and use of phone while driving is N4 , 000 . All will be
added together and you pay to the court .
How many people have you jailed in Bayelsa?
Since I came I have not jailed anybody and I am not praying for that
because I have not gotten recalcitrant drivers that will make me to
take such action . If it happens , I will have no choice .
Do you check the mental alertness of the officers you send on patrol ?
There is officer that was not trained . Every employee is also briefed
before they go on patrol . Don' t also forget that every human being
has five per cent madness . Those ones that cannot contain any
nonsense on the road can over react .
How do you contend with those that take kickbacks on the road ?
Right from the inception of FRSC , there is no body that will join
during the course of training that will not be told of the
consequences . If you are caught collecting bribes , it is outright
dismissal. After being tried you will be investigated and summarily
dismissed from the job. We have put surveillance activities to
checkmate that .
Why is FRSC not armed like the NSCDC and other para -military outfits
? Our new Corp Marshal is working on that and I am very sure that in
no distant time , FRSC officials will bear arms .
Safety Commission (FRSC ) in Bayelsa State . In this interview with
PAULINE ONYIBE, he spoke on the issuance of driving licence among
other pertinent issues. Excerpts …
You are new in Bayelsa State , how do you intend to improve the
activities you met on ground ?
This is my third month . Virtually all the activities I met on ground
are things we do any where we find ourselves and of course we look at
them critically and see how we can improve on them, like the patrol
activities which we are really doing .
The rate at which we are apprehending offenders , we have decided to
change our strategy and before now , we used to have mobile court and
this mobile court , to some extent before the advent of the last
election , the state government put a ban on them but the ban has been
lifted. Very soon we will resume mobile court again and see how we can
track down some of them who are recalcitrant.
We have slots in some media houses especially the electronic media in
the area of sensitisation and public education . We intend to keep
that going and we look forward to other media houses that will give us
such slots because it is only through education that the public will
get to understand what they are expected to do on the highway .
Most of the tricycle operators are not educated , how are you coping with them ?
When I came in , the first thing I did was to invite most of the union
leaders . We had meetings with them and I told them some of the things
I will not tolerate which I believe my predecessor did not tolerate
and some of the things they will do that will make me happy with them.
They all promised to adhere strictly to some of these traffic rules
and regulations . It will interest you to know that the tricycle
operators also have different unions . I have been able to meet with
the executives of the different groups, we had meeting with them and I
have told them the dos and don 'ts on the road .
Any time I 'm also doing public education either in the print or
electronic media , I try as much as possible to use Hausa because
majority of them speak Hausa very well and I thank God that I hear and
I can also speak Hausa .
But I talk mostly in pidgin english like the one I do on NTA , because
pidgin is a common language that everybody understands in this
geographical location. At times I chip in Hausa for the Hausa
listeners to get the message . I won 't say overloading is 100 per
cent eradicated , but I can assure you that 99 per cent of tricycles
in this town don 't overload again.
Tell us some of the challenges you are facing ?
They are enormous . Some of the challenges would be overcome with time
. First and foremost , the patrol vehicles that we have are not too
good , we need sound patrol vehicles . Fueling of these patrol
vehicles is not easy.
Road Safety is not just one person 's business and there is nobody in
Nigeria that will hit his chest and say I have never lost somebody in
a road crash . So, those that God has blessed with financial resources
can assist by making available some of these things we are talking
about.
Are patrol vehicles not supposed to come from the Federal Government ?
Federal Government buy patrol vehicles but you know Federal Government
alone cannot stand the test of all those things at the same time and
that is why we are calling on individuals , philanthropists and state
governments to help .
Some states used to get these things because it is their own state and
it is their own people that we are trying to safe, not to be involved
in road crashes. I have seen governors constructing federal roads
because it is for the use of their people .
So it is in the same vein that this can also be viewed . We need
heavy- duty toe trucks in this state . We have a small toe truck that
can only toe small vehicles . They can 't toe one tipper talk less of
a trailer . We need a 70 tons toe truck in this state . When you look
at these roads , they are not wide enough and you can imagine one of
these vehicles breaking down .
Already , traders have taken over one length of the major roads ,
which is a challenge . These are some of the obstruction we are
experiencing here . Measures are being taken to see how we can go
about it . In fact, the controller in the Federal Ministry of Works is
having a meeting with stakeholders on things like that especially as
it has to do with federal roads .
We are working together to make sure that our roads are free of
traffic and crashes. Even the market we are talking about is a
challenge which we expect the government to see how they can relocate
markets along the roads . If a vehicle loses control , we don ' t know
how many people it will affect .
On the issuance of drivers ' licence , why the marriage between FRSC
and the Board of Internal Revenue ?
The issue of licence is a tripartite arrangement . Tripartite in the
sense that the Board of Internal Revenue , Vehicle Inspection Officers
(VIO ) and the FRSC are all involved the process . Before a license
could be produced for any applicant , there are processes involved.
Let me take a fresh applicant for example .
If you want to obtain a fresh license , it is expected that you should
go to a driving school that is accredited by the FRSC and this driving
school is monitored centrally at the headquarters Abuja . So when
somebody registers with you , you are expected as the proprietor of
the driving school to teach that person the rudiments of traffic rules
and regulations .
When he gets all those ones , he is able to know the road signs, and
having known the road signs , he is also taken to the vehicle
maintenance section , apart from the practical driving instruction
that he will take . Before, driving school proprietors were allowed to
print certificates and keep so that when a person graduates , they
will just write the name and give him the certificate . He will then
proceed to the FRSC office to fill a form, but if he is computer
literate, he can fill the form online and print it out, then go to the
bank and pay the prescribed fee.
How long does it take to complete the process ?
As a fresh applicant you have to pass through a driving school and in
that driving school , you spend 26 hours learning how to drive. In
these 26 hours, you are not supposed to spend more than an hour a day
. That onehour means you are spending about 26 days in a driving
school , after which you can be on the road if the proprietor is
satisfied that you are done.
That certificate automatically drops in the portal of the proprietor
from the FRSC headquarters because it is centrally monitored .He can
then print it out and hand it over to the trainee, it is that
certificate that that enables the trainee to start processing the
driving licence .
By the time he or she gets to our office and demands to get a license
, they will now fill the form for him as a fresh applicant , print it
out, give him to go to the bank and pay the proscribed fee of N6 , 350
. When he pays that , he collects the teller with the form and meet
the VIO attached to our office where these licences are printed .
The VIO will put him to test either for practical or ask him about
road signs. When you fail one, it is as good as you can cause a crash.
If the VIO is satisfied with all that you have done, he will approve
the form that they can give you the driving licence . You will enter
the licencing centre where you will be captured physically .
Immediately they finish capturing , the temporary licence will be
printed. That one is as good as having a valid driving licence .
Within 60 days , the permanent one would have come from Abuja because
it is printed centrally too. But today it does not even take more than
30 days for the permanent one to come . But we still give the benefit
of doubt of 60 days .
How about renewal?
Renewal does not go the trend of the fresh . For renewal, all you need
to do is fill the form, go to the bank and pay N6 , 350 and you come
back to the VIO who might ask you some questions , if you are okay,
since you had a licence before, he will approve your form. They will
print the temporary one and give you . Within 60 days , you will be
given the permanent one . We will collect the temporary one and issue
the permanent one. When it is lost you have to do the needy , like the
police report and affidavit , etc.
Is it because the process is rigorous that makes people bypass the
system by bribing officials ?
That is the problem we have with most Nigerians today. You arrest a
person and he sits in his car and say , ' come I want you to go and do
driving licence for me. How much will it cost ?' Some people will
quickly jump for it , and say 'when do you want it ' and he will say '
tomorrow'.
They will collect huge amount like N30 , 000 and issue him a fake
licence , which looks exactly like the original . At the end of the
day when we get them arrested, they start complaining and threatening.
Because people don ' t want to follow due process they get into the
hands of the bad ones where their money will go . I 'm not exonerating
some staff of FRSC from that , because in every 12 there might be a
Judas .
If 90 per cent of our staff is good perhaps 10 per cent is not good .
Don 't also forget there are people that are not our staff that will
come within the environment and hang around , these people are those
that go into fake driving licence deal . And you hardly see them
wearing uniform . They would have made one or two friends by coming
around , and the person whose licence is to be collected will not tell
you .
They would have told him ; 'when you come to so so place , call me, I
will come out from my office and give you '. That is where I blame
some people; you must know their offices . But ask these people; they
will tell you 'we met in a place '. Let me also alert the public that
any body that collects your passport photograph is going to give you a
fake driving licence .
Visit FRSC office , sit down , follow the due process , they will snap
you and then print . We have a digital system that will take your
thumbprint and you sign , and the temporary one will be produced But
unfortunately you get them from the same office . Our driving licence
center is located in the ministry .
As we speak now , we have our staff on surveillance monitoring every
activity. If any of our staff goes there with any thing at all , we
get the person arrested . As we arrest you , we are sending you to
Abuja straight , the way people are interpreting the process is not as
difficult as people think .
How can a layman differentiate between an original and fake driving licence ?
It is very simple , if somebody asks you for your passport photograph,
he is going to produce a fake licence for you . If you are not
captured, if FRSC officials with uniform did not capture you and if
immediately you are captured they did not print out a temporary one it
is a fake licence .
What level of offences can make a person face your mobile court or go to jail ?
Normally when we are embarking on a mobile court , it is a patrol to
fish out people who are offenders who don 't obey traffic rules and
regulations . In a mobile court , we don 't bother ourselves whether
you have a license or not , it is like a stop and search patrol to
make sure that those things that you need to have in your vehicle are
there. If one of those things is not there, we will arraign you before
the magistrate after booking you for the offence you have committed .
We have a magistrate in the mobile court and we do it along the road .
We have lawyers given to us by the state that prosecute those people .
Once you are booked for a fake license , we arraign you before the
magistrate because we will hold your vehicle until the magistrate
frees you .
The fine for fake driving licence is N20 , 000 . They pay the fine to
the magistrate not to us . The money goes to the state government
while a certain percentage comes to the FRSC , which takes care of the
logistics. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse .
The fact that you did not meet a road safety official one on one does
not mean you should not follow due process to get what you want . Don'
t cut corners . It is trying to cut corners that is making people to
fall prey to these fraudsters .
When on patrol , if we have a recalcitrant driver that drives
dangerously and we are not comfortable , may be during the course of
arresting him he assaulted our staff , we will arraign such a person
straight before the magistrate court .
If he pleads not guilty, the magistrate orders he be put in prison
remand for two weeks. If he comes and out plead guilty they will then
convict . You can pay an option of fine , which is N50 , 000 ; assault
is N10 , 000 and use of phone while driving is N4 , 000 . All will be
added together and you pay to the court .
How many people have you jailed in Bayelsa?
Since I came I have not jailed anybody and I am not praying for that
because I have not gotten recalcitrant drivers that will make me to
take such action . If it happens , I will have no choice .
Do you check the mental alertness of the officers you send on patrol ?
There is officer that was not trained . Every employee is also briefed
before they go on patrol . Don' t also forget that every human being
has five per cent madness . Those ones that cannot contain any
nonsense on the road can over react .
How do you contend with those that take kickbacks on the road ?
Right from the inception of FRSC , there is no body that will join
during the course of training that will not be told of the
consequences . If you are caught collecting bribes , it is outright
dismissal. After being tried you will be investigated and summarily
dismissed from the job. We have put surveillance activities to
checkmate that .
Why is FRSC not armed like the NSCDC and other para -military outfits
? Our new Corp Marshal is working on that and I am very sure that in
no distant time , FRSC officials will bear arms .
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