SUNRISE NEWS, Lagos, July 22, 2020 As Flt Officer Tolulope Arotile was laid to rest yesterday, the President of the Driving School Association of Nigeria (DSAN) Jide Owatunmise has condemned the circumstances of the death of Nigeria’s first female helicopter fighter pilot.
Owatunmise in a press statement issued after a virtual meeting of the national executives of the association said it is saddened that Arotile’s death was traceable to the recklessness of a driver who was not certified to handle any vehicle on the road.
Relying on the report by the Nigeria Air Force, the association said, just like the driver that killed Arotile did not have a driver licence, there are so many more people driving in the 36 States and FCT without driver licence.
This, the association further stated, aligns with available statistics which showed that over 70 per cent of those currently holding driver licence in Nigeria did not have the requisite knowledge and skills before they got the driver licence.
Expressing the association’s dismay, Owatunmise said: “A large percentage of drivers do not go through any form of refresher training since they started driving. Meanwhile most of them go for other professional training programmes in their places of work to up skill themselves. Driving is very dynamic that everyone who drives needs to regularly attend refresher training in standard driving schools as provided for in the National Assembly Act.
It therefore called on the government at all levels to adhere strictly to the provisions of drivers training and licensing as provided in the laws to ensure that those not qualified to drive do not have the liberty of circumventing the laws and end up on our roads as assassins looking for those to kill.
“We are quick to point accusing fingers at the killer of Tolulope Arotile but how many people driving in Nigeria hold original and up to date driver licence and how many received proper training before starting to drive with regular annual refresher training in driving schools?
How many Members of the Armed Forces and Para – Military have Driver Licence and how did they get it? How many VIPs and their family Members currently hold Driver Licence? How many Lawyers have a valid driver licence? How many Civil Servants have a driver licence? How many of them passed through Driving Schools?” Owatunmise asked.