By Henry Umoru

It was a theatre of the absurd on Wednesday when the Nigerian Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC became the dramatist personae with the Senate as the locale, the public, senators and journalists as the spectators.

The public hearing which was organised by Senator Awaisu Kuta–led Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs on how to resolve the controversy surrounding the new driver’s licence and number plates scheme, became an arena to flex muscles between the two government agencies.

Representatives of the agencies could not hide their long term rivalry from the time government attempted to merge them.

one of the police checkpoints

Setting the stage for the fight, Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, Olajide Akano, in charge of ICT told the Committee that the law does not empower FRSC to register vehicles, just as he explained that the responsibility rests with Motor Licensing Authority (MLAs) of each state of the Federation.

In his defence, FRSC Corps Marshall, Osita Chidoka, who sharply disagreed, disclosed that the Joint Tax Board (JTB) indicted the Police for issuing un-receipted Enhanced Central Motor Registry (CMR) to Nigerians in 2003, adding, “At the 104th meeting of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) between August 6 to August 7, 2003 in Nasarawa State, and the communiqué noted that road taxes are the responsibility of the states. The communiqué also highlighted that the ECMR are un-receipted by the Police.’’

Nigerians want the prices reduced and not this fight over who is supreme
Rather than come to the public domain to fight for supremacy, both should go back to the Act establishing them which stipulates their responsibilities. Nigerians want to hear that the price for the new number plate is reduced if it must continue in the first place.

The issue to note here is what is the difference between the old and new number plates? Just moving the local government from the right to the left and the letters from the left to the right?  Is that why Nigerians must pay higher?
The hardship being faced is much.  Just within a year, the driver’s license has jumped from N3,000 to N6,000 while the new number plate has moved from N5,000 to N15,000 and it has even been pushed to as much as N45,000.

It is too much especially at moments like this when most Nigerians are hard up. The Senate must not allow it; the poor must not be allowed to suffer; the rich can afford it, but in situations like this, there is always that uniformity. We wait for the result of the public hearing.

Mark attacks FAAN, NCAA over foreign Airlines Arbitrary fares
That same Wednesday, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), were tongue-lashed by Senate President David Mark for colluding with foreign airlines in fixing high air fares. It was during the debate on a motion by Senator Hope Uzodinma (PDP, Imo) titled: “Violation of aviation laws and practices by foreign airlines in Nigeria.”

Senate President Mark who described the arbitrary air fares charged by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic as exploitative and unreasonable, said, “the prices given are completely out of range, they are unreasonable; they are exploitative and nobody should tell us to sit down here and not do anything about it because Nigerians are willing to pay.

“Our regulatory agencies have done absolutely nothing; in fact they are part of the problem because they have been colluding with them otherwise they would have been the ones to raise the issue. They have watched helplessly, they have refused to act otherwise they would be the ones to force British Airways to look at what they are doing.”

Thank God that the Senate has raised this that the regulatory agencies are involved and colluding with the foreigners, this may not be the first time things of these nature are happening in the country especially those that affect the poor.

This may have really caught the attention of the senators because they and others often use the foreign Airlines. It is actually bad for Nigerians to collude with foreigners to cheat Nigeria and Nigerians.