20,000 drivers’ licences ready in Lagos

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has revealed that over 20,000 drivers licence are ready for collection across the state. Speaking when he went for his drivers’ licences, at the Ojodu centre in Lagos, Fashola, who went through eye and written tests with the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) and photo data capture, with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), stated: “I was told that there is a batch of drivers’ license that people have not come to collect. So we, at the state level, and the FRSC, will have to put on our thinking caps about how to create public awareness on this.
“I am told that about 20,000 people out there are yet to collect their licences. They (drivers licence facility agencies) are concerned about cost and maybe they are thinking about how to publish the names on the internet or something.”
The governor described his experience, during the exercise, as good noting, however, that it was presumptuous to judge with his own experience, since it could also be possible that he received a fast tracked treatment because of who he is.
Notwithstanding, the governor said he got favourable feedback from members of the public who he met and spoke with at the facility.
“What is important is that I asked citizens who are here and the totality of their experiences from the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) and the FRSC indicate that things are certainly getting better. So, it only suggests to me that all of the impressions that we had initially were teething problems,” he said.
The governor attributed the initial congestion at the place to the fact that so many people were striving to get into the restricted place at the same time.
He stated: “After all of the initial problems, things are turning out for the better. People now have appointments and from all that is being said, they keep their appointments and they get good services, so far so good.”
On hand to receive the governor at the facility were Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Permanent Secretary, Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, Mr. Akin Hanson, Zonal Coordinator, FRSC Lagos and Ogun, Mr. K.A.B. Lawal, Lagos Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr. Chidi Nkwonta and Director VIS, Mr. Hafeez Toriola, among others.