Kwara State Sector Commander, Federal
Road Safety Corps, Mr. Christopher Ademoluti, on Wednesday said the FRSC had
put the minimum age of commercial drivers in Nigeria at 26.
Speaking during the inauguration of
the commercial driving licence in Ilorin, Ademoluti also said underage
commercial drivers were responsible for some of the road crashes in the
country.
He said, “We want to put the minimum
age of a commercial driver in Nigeria at 26 to enable them to have the
experience, maturity and expertise to drive and convey people, unlike the
current system where we have underage people driving commercial vehicles.
“With the new driving licence, we
want to have all the data of the commercial drivers.
“We don’t want to have a driver who
drives 18-seater bus to endanger the lives of the 18 people. It is only one
commercial driver that dies where 18 people die.”
He stated that the upgraded National
Drivers Licence would help reduce accidents.
According to him, the NDL contains
the data of commercial drivers and would serve as checks on them.
Ademoluti also said six driving
schools had been approved to train commercial drivers before being issued with
the new licence.
He added that the biometric
documentation of all licensed drivers would aid in tracking down criminals.
According to him, it will also reduce
the loss of revenue accruing to the state through unpatriotic citizens through
their illicit activities in the parallel production of the licence.
befitting State Burial. This is in
recognition of his enviable record of Service to the state and country.”