In a society of men with commonsense, the trend is that you are deemed innocent until proven guilty. In a Chinese twist, the same argument is rephrased ‘you are deemed guilty until proven innocent’. But in our country, it is not so. Here, even the unwholesomely insane delinquent knows that you are always deemed shamefacedly culpable until you are proven guilty. Ask the Nigerian police and you would be charged ‘for’ contempt of force or obstruction of justice.
In 2006, my friend bought a Primera saloon car and went through the rigour of registering it legally, according to all the country’s lay down rules. Oyo State licence plate number was about 18,000, Abuja’s was 22,000 while Lagos’ was 27,000. Even though he was neither from any of these states, he preferred that of Lagos, because he considered it the most ‘universal’ in the country. The licence plate of his home state sold for about 17,500. But he chose Lagos’. He paid to the bank as directed and was given documents and receipts at the Ikeja licensing office. When it was due a year after, he went to Lagos to renew this. But two years after, Lagos State’s vehicle registration processes went hi-tech, and so was the accompanying madness. When my friend went to the Oyo State vehicle licensing office to renew his car particulars through the novel means, he was told that his car ‘has the problem of double registration’. What this means (for those who do not know) is that the particular licence plate that he paid for and was issued has been ‘sold’ to two vehicles concurrently. How come, you may ask. He was told by the all-knowing licensing officer that ‘by my experience, you better go and re-register, and pay another money, so that they give you another new number...’
‘What! What do you mean’ he queried.
‘Bros, you would have to go to Lagos and report your case there, so that your problem can be solved.’
‘My problem? Now you call that my problem! Didn’t I pay for the plate? Yes, I paid for the licence plate and have genuine receipts,’ he replied, cautiously emphasising the word, ‘genuine’, and pointing daringly at the opening on the window pane through which they conversed.
‘Na wetin! Oga, me I just dey try advise you,’ the officer sighed and made to leave the cubicle. Then my friend suddenly realised how squashed up he was in the mess, so he begged to know more.
‘ But... but I have engraved the number on all of the car, from the windscreen to the wiper; and also my new alloy wheels. Even if I save enough money to secure another plate number, how do I change the engravings?’
‘You can’t change the engraving. That is why you must report yourself first to the police. That is, after you have sworn to an affidavit at the court that you are the real owner of the car and that so and so happened... simple!’
Simple indeed! How can one deliberately walk on live coals and his feet not burn? In this country, we all know that going to the police to report yourself is akin to committing a suicide because your lover ran away with another man. At least some suicide cases are arguably justifiable, not a few are products of sheer human stupidity, though. Perhaps not even the devil himself would forgive your premature report at hell’s gate on the mere excuse that you were so dumb as to have reported yourself to the Nigerian Police. How many of us have been told to ‘park!’ off the expressway and ‘follow us to the station’ because there is an ‘S’ digit in your papers instead of the digit ‘5' in your chassis number? Now this impervious licensing officer wants you to report to the police that the entire 44 types of engraving on your car and the fact that your old registered papers are not in consonance with your licence plate number are entirely the fault of the Lagos State licensing office; and that you should be completely absorbed of the crime of inconsistency. Hmm. Food for thought.
The bigger dilemma, however, involves certain burning questions: Whose fault is it that the licence plate is double-registered? Who, therefore, should be held responsible for the illegality: my friend, the other buyer, FRSC or Lagos State Government? What is Lagos government and FRSC doing about this? And for goodness’ sake, why should my friend be held responsible? That would mean that there is no significant difference between our highly equipped government agencies and the omo-onile practice in Ibadan who simultaneously sell the same plot of land to 5 buyers.
Now my friend and all others who fell victim of this state-sponsored subversion go through the backdoor to renew their vehicle licences, thereby depriving government the revenue accruable from such registration. How long shall we use illegalities to combat illegalities? What is government’s take on such a going concern? Or is the problem perceived only by this writer? I think our action governor and government in Lagos should rise up to this challenge and address the ills. Such a situation is not healthy for anyone, and definitely not for our developing economy.
Finally, while the entire nation gears up for the coming elections and everyone in Nigeria, particularly in the southwest, expects a complete change of government orientation (a la mass movement from PDP to ACN and other parties), the government of Lagos State, through the efforts of Babatunde Fashola, should immediately seek to end this subversion by calling on all aggrieved parties to come forward for a free re-registration exercise (at presentation of evidence of earlier registration). This is the path of a progressive government; the path of justice and fairness; the path never threaded by non-performing states of Oyo and Ogun, among others. This is the best way out of the predicament. Long live Lagos State. Long live Nigeria.
Submitted to Guardian Newspaper, 8 December 2010 to youreport, by me
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