Dreaded ironically by non-law abiding and law abiding motorists, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) set out to ensure road users obey regulations that all boil down to safety of life and property. And when these two powerful agencies fall over each other to make sure guidelines are followed, there can be only one result: a double-barrelled enforcement that produces cautious driving and safer vehicles.

Upon discovery that overspeeding kills, the FRSC pushed out its speed limiter agenda. Realising, suddenly, that bad tyres are equally risky, it commenced a nationwide sensitisation on tyre maintenance.

But in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, the Director, Vehicle Inspection Office, Kano State, Garba Abdu Gaya, said:

“Checking the safety of tyres is the constitutional responsibility of the VIO, not any other agency in the country.”

Gaya insisted that the VIO has always been in the forefront of public enlightenment on safety. He noted that his agency has been running special public awareness programmes such as ‘Oga Driver’ in Wazobia and Dala FM, among others, for many years. “The safety of tyres for road users has always been part of our programmes,” he said.

In another interview, however, the Kano FRSC Sector Commander, Aminu Jabaka Umar, stressed: “FRSC, as a leading agency in traffic management and administration in Nigeria, always operates within the boundaries of law.”

The Sector Commander was quick to point out that there were many tyre-related crashes on Nigerian roads until the FRSC launched its campaign. “In Kano, it is still fresh in our memories, how we lost eight children who went for a quiz competition to a tyre-related crash. So, we cannot fold our arms and watch people dying,” said the Commander.

“As similar happenings were on the increase, we commenced aggressive campaign nationwide. Prior to this, we held an interactive forum with stakeholders on May 9, 2016, at Yar Adua Centre, Abuja, which was attended by the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Vulcanizers Association, National Automobile Council, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and tyre importers and dealers, among others,” he added.

Umar, therefore, urged people not to find faults with FRSC’s tyre initiative for “selfish reasons.” According to him, “What is wrong in asking motorists to have good tyres and avoid crashes?”

It would be recalled that some time last year at about this time, a similar altercation had happened between the Abuja FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) and the FRSC over inspection of vehicle papers. Then, it was alleged that Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, the FRSC Corps Marshal had said that the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) have no business inspecting vehicles’ papers across the country.

In a swift response to the statement, the Public Relation Officer of the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), Mr. K. K. Iloduba had countered that “FRSC has no business with vehicle papers on the road. Outside the VIO, the only body that has the mandate to demand for vehicle document is the Nigeria Police Force and they are limited to the extent they can do that”.

Meanwhile, the VIO in Kano has commenced training of tricycle operators, following complaints about their unruly behaviours on roads. The training, which began April 2016, covers traffic rules and regulations, discipline, riding techniques, first aid, maintenance, safety and human relations.

VIO Director, Gaya, disclosed further how motorists might check the expiry dates of their tyres. “If a tyre has a three-digit number that means it was manufactured in the 80s. If it has a three-digit number plus triangle, it was manufactured in the 90s. And for ones with four-digit numbers, it was manufactured in 20s. To begin with, all tyres that were manufactured with either three-digit numbers or three-digit numbers with a triangle have already expired,” he said.

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