₦airaland Forum

I posted this in October. It is a recreation of one of my old posts.

naptu2:
NTA, tinted glass and powerful lights.

This is another issue that I saw live. I watched as it unfolded and I remember exactly what happened.

Tinted car windows became very popular in the mid-1980s. All kinds of people had heavily tinted glasses. I am not referring to the kind of tinted glasses that we have today, I mean car glasses that were so dark that you could not see the people inside the car, even if you placed your eyes right beside the glass.

All kinds of people used tinted glasses. I told you about a presidential bodyguard that was my friend. He drove various types of Peugeot 504 cars and almost all of them had tinted glasses. I also told you about a guy that was the son of one of the wealthiest people in Nigeria at the time. He drove a red Peugeot 505 Evolution and it also had tinted glasses.

All kinds of government officials, security officials and wealthy private individuals used tinted glass vehicles in the 1980s.

Then the NTA did a special report on the 9 o'clock news sometime in 1989 or 1990. The report highlighted the dangers of tinted glasses. They said that some were so dark that they impaired the vision of the drivers. More importantly, they said that criminals could use tinted glasses to evade detection. They showed footage of various cars with tinted glasses on the streets of Lagos.

The next day a statement came from government and it banned everybody from using tinted glasses. The only exceptions were the president (General Babangida) and the chief of general staff (Admiral Aikhomu).

Interestingly, Babangida and Aikhomu had used tinted glass vehicles in the mid-1980s (1987, 1988), but that stopped sometime around 1988. They had used regular Peugeot 504s when they used tinted glasses, but Babangida began using the W100 Mercedes limousine in 1988 and it didn't have tinted glasses. The Peugeot 505 limousine and W124 limousines that he used from 1989 to 1993 also did not have tinted glasses.

The order was formalised in 1991 when a decree was issued. It is that decree that the police is enforcing today.

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The NTA went one step further and I was really interested in seeing what would happen.

The NTA did a special report about blinding lights.

You see, many senior government officials and senior military officials lived in Ikoyi in the 1980s. It became common that you would see very powerful security lights at the gates of the houses of these officials. These lights were incredibly powerful.

The NTA said that these lights were a danger to motorists. They could easily blind motorists and cause car crashes.

One of the reasons that I wanted to see what the government would do was because the Presidency was also guilty.

I have driven towards State House Ribadu Road as late as 7:20 in the morning in the 1980s and you could not see the gate at all because of the blinding lights that were there.

And just as I thought, nothing was done about it.

Previous threads.

Police to resume Enforcement Of Tinted Glass Permit on January 2, 2026
https://www.nairaland.com/8581729/police-resume-enforcement-tinted-glass

NBA Statement On Police Resumption Of Enforcement Of Tinted Glass Permit
https://www.nairaland.com/8582128/nba-statement-police-resumption-enforcement

NTA self don show them say power is ephemeral

Another revenue generation to the Police.

just pay your permit and tint your glass

The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

How old are you sir? Person needs to respect his elders oo

Is tinted car glasses really the cause of insecurity in Nigeria?

The useless Babangida years.
It was a kleptocracy and nothing else.

I don't even like the tinted glass cars anyway. In my personal opinion. It makes one dodgy about something. 😔

Iceking1:
The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

Dem don scam u be that. If you did it yourself, you'd have spent around 25k.

This was when things was functional, the government looked into things and gave order for security purposes not minding who is who

Funny that Nigerian police cannot distinguish between privacy glass and standard tinted glass. 👇

Tinted Glass Vs Privacy Glass: Privacy glass is a permanent, factory-installed tint built into the glass during manufacturing, while window tint is a film applied to the glass after the vehicle is made Unlike privacy glass that is naturally manufactured with less transparent glass, tinted windows are given a darker shading by applying the tinted film to the inside surface of the windows

gulfer:
Funny that Nigerian police cannot distinguish between privacy glass and standard tinted glass. 👇

They used to (I'm not sure if they still do). Some years ago tinted glass was completely banned (and at the beginning of the renewed enforcement policemen were even helping people to remove it), while privacy glass was allowed, but you need to get a permit for it.

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The way the restriction is enforced has changed over the years. When the order was first made c1990 there was nothing like tint permit. Everybody was mandated to remove tinted windows or privacy glass. The issue of tint permit came much later.

Iceking1:
The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

He scammed you.

The police is mainly interested in generating revenue from the pockets of hapless Nigerians.

How will making payment stop the use of tinted vehicles for crime, lol...
An evil person can easily afford the money requested for.

It will not curb insecurity in the country.

This is just a revenue generation drive. The IGP should be replaced.


Medical reasons justify the use of tinted glasses for people who react to direct sunlight exposure

This is the same government that banned Tramadol because northerners were abusing it.

I dont know why an average government official under APC thinks cutting the head is the solution for headaches

Today, Nigeria's main security problems are terrorism, banditry and kidnapping. Non of it is caused or aided by tinted glasses, any more than tint permit saves lives by keeping the identity of its occupants hidden from the public. Nothing stops NPF from telling suspected vehicles to pull down their windows during stop and search. or will the ban of tint permit also lead to stopping of road blocks and checkpoints? Even without the tints, i will still be asked to pull down my windows. NPF should do their job and security will get better. What will my yearly tint permit money be used for by NPF?

Iceking1:
The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

Are you joking or what ? How is tinted permit 100k ? Or you have money to throw around ?

Interesting, we need more educative topics like this in this site

Iceking1:
The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

Something you can do yourself

So, I will need to get this nonsense permits? Nawa o.

Btruth:
I don't even like the tinted glass cars anyway. In my personal opinion. It makes one dodge about something. 😔

You own a car??
Get the glass first

Dpaulie:
You own a car??
Get the glass first

I don't like it, so I don't need it.

Very insightful write-up. I like how you used personal experience to show how tinted windows were once common, then suddenly banned, while other obvious dangers like blinding security lights were ignored. It clearly highlights the inconsistency and selective enforcement of policies at the time.

grandstar:
The useless Babangida years.
It was a kleptocracy and nothing else.

Babangida era is a trillion times better than this nonsense Republic we currently have

MemphitzDgreat1:
Babangida era is a trillion times better than this nonsense Republic we currently have

I doubt it very much you experienced that era

If it was factor-fitted tint, you have done give away. Mine cost about 20k. I also assisted 3 people in doing theirs.

Iceking1:
The man handling my car papers, told me that tinted permit is 100k, which I paid, but I haven't gotten the permit yet though.

naptu2:
I posted this in October. It is a recreation of one of my old posts.

I always wonder what happened to that W100 that had been in use since the days of Gowon! Rarely seen then except on special occasions.

grandstar:
The useless Babangida years.
It was a kleptocracy and nothing else.

I dey tell you. Insecurity has absolutely nothing to do with tinted car glasses...

They'll always find ways to extort from the docile people. The day Nigerians go cross to the other side of docile, these wahala for everywhere go small. It'll be a real civil crisis...

The sinister intention behind the permit is obvious when it was said that users would be renewing it annually...

That is where the extortion indicates itself...

Why should I be renewing tint permit every year?

Also, it is obvious that the ill-egal IGP is being persistent on it in order to generate money for themselves...

In fact, the purpose of this is to generate money for themselves, not for any security measure...

Cos they know that tint permit won't stop crimes in the country as per say that's not the cause of crimes....

They are the cream- he- nals that are feeding off the chaos in the country...

So, why disturbing people with the tint permit crap...?!

I ain't getting no permit, make dem stop me for road make I see...

Nteogwuija:
Dem don scam u be that. If you did it yourself, you'd have spent around 25k.

I did it myself, I didn't even spend up to 20k, and I did it right from the comfort of my home, delivered to my mail.