The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday gave sub-standard driving schools in the country 60 days to upgrade or risk sanctions.
FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi gave the ultimatum in Owerri at a national workshop organised for driving school operators with the theme “Promoting Road Safety through Quality Driving Education in Nigeria”.
Oyeyemi said that most driving school owners were operating below standard, adding that the aberration accounted for most of the road crashes on Nigerian roads.
He said that FRSC was committed to training the trainers to ensure significant reduction in road crashes.
“We have suspended some driving school operators from our portal because some of them are illegally graduating trainees.
“Some of the operators do not even train their clients before issuing them certificates; we have noted all these and we will not allow it to continue.”
The corps marshal said the essence of the workshop was to educate the trainers and to refresh their memories on FRSC training standards.
In his remarks, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo said that his administration had approved the establishment of a state-owned driving school to ensure adherence to standard.
Okorocha, who was represented by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), MR George Eche, decried the high number of unqualified drivers on the road.
“An unqualified driver is like a looming danger waiting to happen and I will do everything possible to assist FRSC to fight this menace,” Okorocha said.
The Sector Commander Imo Command, Mr Joseph Aremu, said that the command would collaborate with the proposed state-owned driving school to ensure quality training of drivers.
Aremu said that the command currently investigates and prosecutes unqualified drivers.
Meanwhile, Mr Denja Abdullah,the Director, Department of State Service (DSS) in Imo, who spoke on the “Role of Driving School Operators in Road Safety Management” said road crashes noted that had become a recurring phenomenon.
He said that road crashes were caused by human, mechanical and environmental factors, adding that human factor accounted for 90 per cent of the accidents in the country.
Abdullah added that besides Boko Haram insurgency, road accident was the second major cause of death in Nigeria.
He urged FRSC to publish names of licensed driving school operators in each state in order to eliminate quacks.
The Director also urged FRSC to encourage operators to conduct biometric documentation of their clients and also liaise with DSS to vet operators before issuance of licence.