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From Idu Jude, Abuja
The Federal Government has announced concrete steps to retrain and certify truck and articulated vehicle drivers across the country as part of urgent measures to reduce the rising menace of tanker and road accidents.
It also assured that adequate funding will be sourced for the nationwide driver training programme, a recommendation earlier pushed by the National Assembly.
Speaking at a meeting with the committee overseeing the project in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Alkali, highlighted the government’s resolve. He stated: “On the receipt of the complaint from the office of the National Security Advisor and the same from the National Assembly, the honourable minister was moved. He moved into action and said this committee must sit and be effective. He is mindful of his mandate to provide safe, efficient, and affordable transportation for Nigerians. So if safe transportation is part of it, your mission here—driver’s training—has to be part of it. Because drivers have to be trained, have to know what they are doing and I am very happy that all relevant stakeholders are here. The drug law is here. Road safety is here. The President of the Female Drivers Association is here, and your humble servant is here, the trainer. So, I want to commend you for your commitment to this cause.”
On the pressing issue of financing, the Minister, represented by Musa Ibrahim, Director overseeing the office of the Permanent Secretary, acknowledged the challenges but said the administration was determined to deliver.
“We all know what budgetary issues are. If anything is not in the budget of a particular agency and it comes midway, generating money will be extra-budgetary. So you have to go around it and look for other ways to generate the funds. We are working around the clock to get funding, and as soon as that is ready, we will go into the project fully.”
Representing the committee chair, Cynthia Ehindoro assured the ministry that the committee was prepared to swing into action once funds are released.
She noted that the retraining initiative was vital, given the alarming rate of crashes involving truck drivers.
“We appreciate your zeal for effective land transportation in Nigeria which was further affirmed by the recent approval of the National Transport Policy and your success in getting the Federal Executive Council’s approval of about N142 billion to construct modern bus terminals across the six geo-political zones. This is commendable and a remarkable landmark in the history of land transportation in Nigeria.
However, as important as effective transport is, it is even more important to ensure the safety of the road users.
We strongly believe you are interested in both effective road transportation and road safety which are complementary. As you have demonstrated your capability in securing funds to construct the Bus Terminals, we strongly believe you can also source funds to implement the driver’s re-training project to significantly reduce and eventually eliminate the crashes which have hitherto led to the loss of many lives and valuable properties.”
She further revealed that over 80 percent of drivers lacked adequate knowledge for safe driving under all conditions, with many either driving without valid licences or possessing none at all.
“This committee requested to have this meeting with you to reiterate the fact that the increasing rate of road crashes (accidents) involving the drivers of articulated vehicles has made the proposed retraining program both crucial and urgent, to save irreplaceable lives and properties on Nigerian roads.
We also believe that the success of the retraining and recertification of the drivers will provide a further boost to the performance management scores (PMS) of the minister and the ministry.”
With stakeholders such as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and transport unions involved, the initiative is expected to become a key safety reform in Nigeria’s transport sector.
