Hello My esteemed readers, good to be here again, apologies for the earlier mix-up with a post not exactly related to our area of focus, there was a slight mix-up somewhere, happy weekend to all, and a happy democracy day for our Nigerian friends as well. as they celebrate yet again.
My reason for touching on this topic is based on a special demand from a friend and indeed the need to highlight this concern given the severe molestation faced by motorists in
Nigerian especially in Lagos by our road agencies ( road safety, VIO, traffic police, and even local government council officials to some extent) THE BIG QUESTION IS WHAT ARE THE REQUIRED VEHICLE PARTICULARS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO DRIVE FREELY ON OUR ROAD?
Nigerian roads are one of the most volatile in the world, besides its deplorable states one would also have to contend with the road regulation agencies who on daily basis pray and hope that motorists do not have the right paper to cover their vehicles or are unfortunate enough to have expired papers or documents at their disposal while on the road, this might be as a result of not being able to monitor the papers to know when they might have expires or better still for newbies who do not have an idea at to which documents are required by the law to drive on Nigerian roads.
To clear the air and to also orientate new drivers in order not to fall victim to these ever-anticipating road officials the following documents are required to drive on Nigerian roads without any form of molestation.
1. NATIONAL DRIVER'S LICENCE
This is the first and most important document required by Nigerian law if you must be on the road, getting the license by the road safety or vio means that you have passed the requirements and have been declared mentally and physically stable to be able to drive in the Nigerian roads, to be able to qualify for this license you must be at least 18 years of age and would have undergone series of test to accompany this.
2. NATIONAL CERTIFICATE OF ROAD WORTHINESS
After the driver's Licence the next important document required to drive on Nigerian roads without any form of molestation is the national certificate of roadworthiness, this certificate is to tell of your vehicle passes all the criteria to be on the roads as regards safety and all its measures, an inspections would be carried out on your vehicle by the VIO to ascertain this, be sure to keep your vehicles in top shape in order to scale this hurdle.
3. VEHICLE REGISTRATION (FOR PRIVATE CARS)
Vehicle registration is a document that clearly indicates that a car has been duly registered under Nigerian Law and as such complies with the various regulations guiding this act.
4. MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE
This is a very integral document required by Nigerian law to drive on Nigerian roads, be it third-party insurance or otherwise it is mandatory to have your car insured before hitting the roads to avoid any form of embarrassment from the various agencies that patrol our roads.
Getting good car insurance cannot be overestimated especially in the event of unforeseen circumstances which might occur.
FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
For commercial vehicles, the requirements are slightly different from what is obtainable for private vehicles the following are also required for commercial vehicles to ply the roads without any form of molestation.
1. COMMERCIAL VEHICLE LICENCE
2. HACKNEY PERMIT
The Hackney permit is another document that is required to drive freely on the Nigerian and particularly Lagos road without any form of harassment, the hackney permit is simply a license for vehicles below a certain weight category to carry goods within a state, this document should be issued to you at the point of registering your vehicle and does not require any form of inspection or whatsoever.
3. LASDRI CARD (LAGOS STATE DRIVERS INSTITUTE)
For residents of Lagos this is a project that didn't go well with the last administration because of its seeming irrelevance, aside from obtaining the driver's license,m there is also a need to be certified by the LASDRI for commercial vehicle drivers and pick-up owners, this only applies to Lagos and not across the federation so please note if you are new to Lagos and wish to take up a job as a commercial vehicle driver or you own a pickup, please do visit the Lagos State Drivers Institute to obtain your LASDRI card and save your self any form of embarrassment and extortion on the road
Haven outlined these documents, having them always in your cars is very ideal in ensuring that you don't fall victim to any sort of extortion on the road, but at the same time being able to renew these documents whenever they expire remain key to being free from all forms of harassment on our roads, to out newbie drivers please take time to ensure that your documents are in place either private or commercial before hitting the road.
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