ROTIMI ASHER
Since its inception twelve years ago, the Lagos State Drivers Institute has successfully trained 432, 047 professional drivers in a bid to create sanity on Lagos roads.
The General Manager, Lagos State Drivers Institute, Mrs Afusat Tiamiyu disclosed this recently during an exclusive interview with Motoring World in her office at Oshodi, Lagos.
Lagos State Drivers’ Institute is an agency under the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation with the statutory responsibility of Drivers education, Drivers training, Public Education research and development.
According to Mrs Tiamiyu, problems bedevilling road transportation across the state include carelessness, recklessness and lawlessness on the part of ill-trained drivers.
“Having put so much value in the life of citizens,” she recalled, “Lagos State Government set up this place to take drivers to classroom environment yearly to enhance their needs for training and improve their driving skills.
“We have been in operation for twelve years. From our database, our records show that we have been able to train 432, 047 drivers. The impact of the training has generated a positive response from these drivers’ employers. Without pressure on these organizations, they send their drivers voluntarily. We have been informed that since they started attending the institute, they have not been involved in a road accident
“There are three windows for enrolling drivers for training here? (1) Mandatory professional Drivers training programme. The law says if you are driving for a living, you must pass through Lagos State Drivers Institute before you can drive in the state. I mean those who are earning their living through driving, be it private drivers, commercial vehicles drivers, corporate organizations drivers and Public service drivers. In as much as you are collecting your pay by driving, the law says you have to pass through this institute annually towards updating your skills.’
‘’The second window is a short training programme, a well-structured advanced training programme for truck drivers, ambulances drivers and emergency vehicle drivers. We have a curriculum for the programme as well. The third window is the rehabilitation window. If you are apprehended or accosted by LASTMA for contravening traffic law in Lagos State, the law says they should be sent for a rehabilitation course for two days in the institute. These are the three areas we are concentrating on.’’
Tiamiyu expressed a belief that whenever the institute trains one driver, it indirectly reduces road accidents by 100%, because, in her words, “the trained driver would have known the dos and don’ts s on the road. Drivers’ education is very key to safe driving. What we want is sanity on Lagos roads. We do not want road crashes on Lagos roads. That is why we are emphasizing seriously on taking drivers through adequate training.’’
“The training attracts a mandatory cost of just N2, 000, including an LSDRI card. The card is the evidence that you have passed through this institute and you have been trained,” she added.
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