Worried by the incessant road mishaps in the country, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has said as from next year, any commercial driver that has not attained the minimum age of 26 years would not be issued with driving licence.

The FRSC alleged that underage commercial drivers were responsible for some of the road crashes, which were recorded in the country.

Kwara State Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr. Christopher Ademoluti, who dropped the hint in Ilorin yesterday, during  the commencement of the issuance of commercial driver’s licence in Ilorin, said: “The measure would enable commercial drivers to have the maturity to drive and convey lives of others safely.”

He said: “We want to put the minimum age of a commercial driver in Nigeria at 26 to enable them have the experience, maturity and expertise to drive and convey the lives of other people, unlike the present system where we have under-aged people like 16 year-olds driving commercial vehicles.”

Ademoluti, who said the upgraded National Drivers Licence (NDL) was capable of reducing road traffic crashes on Nigerian roads, added that the NDL contains data of commercial drivers, serving as checks on them and making to be more careful and responsible.

He added: “With the new divers licence, we want to have all the data of the commercial drivers in Nigeria. We don’t want to have a driver who drives 18-seater bus to endanger the lives of the 18 people. It is only one commercial driver that dies where 18 people die.”

Ademoluti also said six driving schools had been approved in Nigeria to train commercial drivers before they are issued with new driver’s licence, “unlike when ordinary motor boys apply for drivers licence after just three months with a senior commercial driver without passing any theoretical application test of driving.”

He also said the biometric documentation of all licenced drivers would aid in tracking down criminal activities in the society.

Ademoluti also said it would stem the huge loss of revenue accruing to the state via unpatriotic citizens through their illicit activities in the parallel production of NDL.