Only eleven per cent of drivers on Lagos roads possessed valid drivers licence last year, according to a 2011 national survey conducted by CLEEN Foundation.

Niger State had the worst record with a lowly three percent while Sokoto, Kogi, and Kebbi had only five percent of their drivers having a valid licence.

The study, which was conducted in the 36 states of Nigeria and Abuja, sampled 11,518 people aged 18 and above.

In Gombe State, 95 per cent of the drivers drove without attending driving school; followed closely by Sokoto with 90 per cent, and Adamawa, Borno, and Kwara with 81 per cent.

37 percent of Lagos drivers plied the roads without attending any driving school.

Data on road accidents showed that Taraba State blazed the trail with 27 percent of the road accidents in 2011; Jigawa followed closely with 25 percent; and Benue and Yobe with 24 percent each.

Only three percent of road accidents in 2011 occurred in Ogun State while Lagos had seven percent.

"If you have a state where there are fewer vehicles on the road spread far in between, the chances of road accidents happening will be minimal," said Innocent Chukwuma, Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, who coordinated the study.

Mr. Chukwuma noted that Lagos was placed at the bottom rung of road accidents because the study utilized percentage distribution of vehicles.

"If you are counting in terms of solid numbers, Lagos will be higher," said Mr. Chukwuma.

"Another factor you would have to take into account is how Lagos is policed in terms of traffic laws. You have the Road Safety, LASTMA, VIO; whereas in other states, you don't have LASTMA.

"Actually, in Lagos State, LASTMA numbers are higher than the Road Safety, so that may well account for why you have a lower percentage," Mr. Chukwuma said.

The study, which had support from the MacArthur Foundation, ranked Abia as the state with the worst case of robbery incidents.

Following Abia State's 59 percent robbery rate was Bayelsa with 54 percent and Yobe with 34 percent.

The North-East had the highest rate of attempted murder or murder in the country with eight percent while the South-West, with two percent, had the least.

The South-West also had the lowest rate of domestic violence with 13 percent while the South-South had the highest with 33 percent.

The South-South's six per cent rate for kidnapping or attempted kidnapping and six per cent for rape or attempted rape is the highest in the country.

The report also revealed that most rape cases occur at home (43 percent) while work places and schools had the lowest with six percent.

The methodology used in the data collection for the study included the in-home and face to face personal interviews. A stratified multi-stage random selection procedure was also used in order to achieve a national representative sample.

Mr. Chukwuma described government's use of data collated by private agencies as "abysmally poor."

"We are a society that is not driven by reliable data," he said.

"Policies are made and thrashed on the basis of anecdotal evidence, on whims and caprices of those in government, and on the basis of interests of some elements," Mr. Chukwuma added.

nanoken: is lie

~Bluetooth:

I thought they said a large percentage of Nigerians live on less than $1 ? Sarcastically,I refuse to believe this research.

ZUBY77: Enugu must be the lowest.everybody there is sane except ....

hardbody: Several issues have been wrongly enmeshed in this unduly long write up. The truth is in Lagos you do not need a driver's license to drive on the roads.As commented elsewhere in this post, even blind and lame own licenses. Having said that, the FRSC never helped matters. I recall applying for driver's licence and never got one for close to one year. I was required to come every period to revalidate a piece of paper they gave me in lieu of the final licence. Since then, I call in a guy into my office, sign on a piece of paper and give him my passport, 2 days later I get a 'valid'licence. And by the way I hold 8 licenses from 8 different states of the federation. When FRSC catch and sieze one, I whip out another and continue my trip. This country of ours is fokked. By the way driving in Lagos is the most interesting challenge you can ever get, you drive for urslef, the guys in front and behind and besides you. You also drive for their passengers who don't even know nada about driving. If you drive in Lagos, you will drive anywhere else in planet earth