President Jonathan in Nigeria last month announced a new drivers license and car license system:
Today marks another step in our transformation journey. The launch of the new driver’s licence and number plates today is the culmination of three years of hard work which started with a discussion I had with the Corps Marshal in my office then as Vice President on the need to improve our driver’s license for it to meet international standards.
Today’s launch has acquired greater significance following last Friday’s unprovoked attack which led to the loss of lives and has left in its trail gory images of the threat terrorism now poses to the peace and security of our nation and the safety of our citizens.
Since the last bombing episode on October 1, I had directed the hastening of efforts to build a credible database of drivers and vehicles in order to improve public safety. The importance of this project is reaffirmed by the consistent use of vehicles in the conduct of the recent bombing episodes.
Today I heard that the system may be accessible on-line for investigation of Nigerian citizens by external or even foreign agencies. Maybe there even will be a Google Maps API to monitor the movement of Nigerian drivers.
Although the licenses and plates may be unique I suspect they are still a long way away from establishing a link to unique addresses. A whole town may use the same mail stop and could have overlapping names, so numbers for driving will become unique but the rest of the information on the license/plates may remain shared.
It reminds me of the time when I wrote about the Irish Police that struggled to catch a notorious reckless driver that seemed to be everywhere and have many addresses
In a letter dated June 17th, 2007, an officer from the Garda traffic division wrote that it had come to his attention that members inspecting Polish driving licences were noting Prawo Jazdy as the licence holder’s name.
“Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence,” he wrote.