Senate c’tte slashes drivers’licence, number plate to N4000, N8400

ABUJA— Senate Committee on Federal Character has slashed prices for new drivers’ licences and vehicle number plates issued by the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, from N6,000 and N15,000 to N4,000 and N8,400 respectively.

The Senator Dahiru Kuta-led committee in its report on the new vehicle number plates and drivers’ licences yet to be submitted to the Senate said the new price regime imposed by the FRSC was exploitative and arbitrary.

It directed the FRSC to forthwith reverse the prices downward in view of the national outcry that the prices are too exorbitant.

Details of the report which is yet to be considered by the Senate also included the lifting of suspension on the issuance of the new licence and vehicle number plates.

The committee also urged the FRSC to adjust the August 2012 deadline for replacement of new number plates by another six month to enable Nigerians acquire the vehicle number plates at the new reduced prices.

The committee in the report also directed the Vehicle Inspection Office, VIO, of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja to stop the e-coding of vehicles and collection of N2000 from motorists.

The report further kicked against the overlapping of functions between the Nigeria Police Force, FRSC and VIO, noting that the agencies need to pull their resources together for the safety of lives on Nigerian roads.

Part of the report reads, “Much as people see the new number plate and driver’s license scheme by the FRSC as being laudable, overwhelming majority see the price as being prohibitive.

“The committee recommends that motorcycles plate number and driver’s license should revert to the old rate of N1500 and N750 respectively as the majority of motorcyclists are peasants.

“Similarly, the sum of N8400 is being recommended as the cost for standard vehicle motor plate number to the end users from N15000 and driver’s license from N6000 to N4000.

“That FRSC should call for replacement of driver’s license only at the point of renewal at the expiration to avoid double payment.

“The committee notes that the FRSC has given a time frame of September to August 2012 for motorists to renew their licenses and plate numbers. This is no more realistic in view of the hitherto exorbitant cost of procuring this plate and this senate’s legislative intervention. In view of the laudable nature of the scheme, its positive security details and the above recommended reduction, extension of this time frame by a period of six months is hereby recommended, that is from August 2012 to February 2013.

“That there are overlaps in the activities of the Police, VIO and FRSC. There will be need to harmonize and probably amend some of the extant laws or acts.

“The Senate should advise Joint Tax Board, JTB, to take all necessary steps to stop the activities of touts at the point of sale in order to remove unnecessary increase in price. The sales outlets should be a one stop shop with the actual price boldly displayed and that demand should not exceed supply

“The police should synergies their ideas of biometric data collection and collaboration in terms of data collection with the FRSC who already have existing data base and with whom they have always been relating with before now. The police should forthwith suspend the introduction of BCMR and the N3500 that goes with it.

“The FCT Vehicle and Motor Administration should stop forthwith the E-coding scheme and the collection of N2000 per vehicle. It should collaborate and integrate with the FRSC.”

 VANGARDE NEWS

Nigeria makes electric car, power bike

As the issue of environmental pollution rages and nations are seeking alternative energy sources devoid of carbon emission, Nigeria, as a major oil-exporter, will be hard hit if nothing is done. To this end, Professor James Omoleye of the Department of Chemical Engineering and former Director, Centre for Research, Covenant University, Ota Ogun State, began a series of researches with his team which culminated in the making of an electric automobile and a power bike. In this chat with Vanguard Learning, Omoleye says Nigeria is far ahead of some nations in this area. Excerpts:

For Professor James Omoleye: “Nigeria is an oil-exporting country and today, the green revolution which is trying to promote mobility without atmospheric pollution, is driving the whole world to look for alternative way of transportation and that has led to some research on electric automobile.

“Electric automobile is not a new thing. In fact, somebody said it was there before fuel combustion engine came but was not efficient at that time. The use of petrol engine took over because it was more efficient. Now, because of pollution and electronic advancement which has made electric automobiles very efficient, there is a kind of shift. People want to look into electric automobile as a means of mobility.”

Reducing pollution by 80 per cent:
If you can reduce the amount of pollution in the air coming through automobiles, then you would have reduced pollution by almost 80 per cent and life on earth will be safer. So there is now a tendency to move towards electric mobility, not only automobiles, even boats and trains. In advanced countries, the number of electric automobiles in use is on the increase.

Of course, many are now using what we call hybrid which is electric engine and fuel combustion engine together. This reduces the amount of fuel you burn. But the ultimate is electric automobile so that we can do away with pollution of the atmosphere. That is already gaining ground now in countries like the US and China. In China, electric bikes are common and a number of their taxis are electric. So very soon, electric mobility will take over from fuel combustion.

Electric car and power bike
“I started in 2005 to research into electric automobiles. Our electric automobile came on the road on July 1, 2010 and I have been using it but not continuously being the only one we have made, we don’t just use it any how. What we did was to buy a fuel combustion engine car, removed the engine and designed and assembled the electric engine inside it.

We have also advanced in the sense that the first one we did, we brought in the parts but between then and now, we have worked on two of the three major components which are the speed regulator and the charging system because after running about 70km, you charge for six hours continuously.

Today, we have successcfully designed and assembled our own speed controller. We have tested it by mounting it on a four-wheel cycle and it is moving very well. We have almost perfected the charging system. Of course, since September 2007, we have been able to come up with a charging system but it was not as efficient as what we have now. We are replacing the one we did in 2010 with the one we have now which is a lot faster and more reliable.

The only component we have not started to do here is the electric motor itself. But that is not a big deal because there is no vehicle company that manufactures all the parts. You get some parts from one company and then you design some,” said the professor of chemical engineering.

Ahead of many nations
“We have gone very far and I think we are ahead of many other nations. We are ahead of Australia because they are not yet making those things and they are the ones in the forefront of electric automobile. An Indian man that came for business in Abuja saw my programme on television and came all the way to look for us here.

He said he came because they also have interest in electric automobile and that his company was given approval by the Indian Government to start introducing electric mobility into their taxi system. By the time we talked, I found out that we are ahead of them. They don’t make any parts and yet, they have got to the point of changing their taxi system to electric automobiles but we have gone to the point of producing the controller and the charger,” he said.

What Nigeria must do
“Even as an oil-exporting country, we cannot help encouraging something that will not consume fuel for two reasons: One, we are not making even the fuel combustion vehicles, we are importing them so if in the next five or six years the whole world is changing into electric automobile, you say ‘oh we are not going to go into that,’ you will be forced to import the electric automobiles they are making and good enough, petroleum is not only used for fuel combustion by automobiles, there are hundreds of products today that are made from petroleum just that Nigeria is only focusing on exporting crude.

Our clothes are from petroleum. When you talk of petrochemicals, the basic raw material is petroleum. So all we need to do is for us to try to focus on petrochemicals and start to divert the crude we cannot export to produce other things that can be exported.

Of course we will still be selling our crude but not as much as before. This is one reason why we should not say we are not going to encourage electric automobile production. Two, for now, we are only importing vehicles, when you join the race of electric automobiles manufacturing; you become one of the countries that will be earning revenue from exporting your own electric automobiles.

So while the fuel is not used for fuelling cars again, generators for the charging the automobiles will still be using fuel . You will now join them in also exporting vehicles and so you can increase your revenue base more than what it was before. We have gone very far and I think we are among the top five countries,” he noted.

Vangard new