By Chris Ochayi
ABUJA —  Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, has received a $300,000.00 grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, for training of its officers on the new driver’s licence scheme.

The training, aimed at enhancing their capacity in processing and issuance of the new driver’s licence, covers Vehicle Inspection Officers drawn from 36 states of the federation and some officers of theFRSC in Massachusetts, United States of America.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley, who signed the bilateral agreement on the training grant on behalf of the USTDA, expressed delight over the technical collaboration between Nigeria and the USA.

Responding, the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Osita Chidoka, who signed the training pact on behalf of the commission, said the partnership was a fall out of a sustained understanding between the FRSC and USTDA as a conditional offer based on the commission’s selection of the L-1 Identity Solution Incorporation’s bid containing significant content of the USA during the procurement phase of the new drivers’ licence.

He added that the partnership will bolster the on-going resolve by the FRSC to restore the integrity of the Nigerian drivers’ license through elimination of parallel production and fraudulent practises, in addition to enhancing patrol operations.

In the words of the Corps Marshal ‘the technical grant is a continuation of series of collaborations with the United States Of America such as training of FRSC operatives at the California Highway Patrol and the Accident investigation training programme, in collaboration with the North American University.

According to Chidoka, the new drivers’ license will ensure that fresh applicants must be certified by accredited driving schools, while those renewing will pass through a revalidation process as the entire process will gradually remove incompetent drivers from Nigerian roads ‘.

He also stated that the FRSC has received requests from some countries in Europe to verify the genuineness of driving licenses obtained in Nigeria, which are discovered to be fake.

Under the training partnership, 77 officials, comprising 2 Vehicle Inspection Officers, drawn from each state of the federation and five  FRSC officers will participate in the capacity building programme.

The Federal Road Safety Commission anticipates the processing of 12 million drivers’ licenses in the next three years.