Peculiar news from Nigeria, where the authorities ar warning against license plate fading, due to ‘aggressive cleaning’. Many people recently got fined for faded license plates in the African country. Which, not surprisingly, scores very bad on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Nigerian road authorities felt the need to explain the sudden spike in fines over faded vehicle number plates. “No, it is not to extort drivers but to ensure compliance with traffic rules”, a spokesperson said after a number of complaints on the subject during a popular radio show.

However, he couldn’t explain the difference in how high the fines turned out on various occasions. Some people had to pay N20,000 (€47) others got away with N5000 (€12).

Low quality

Apart from corruption, the substandard quality of number plates in Nigeria is probably the main reason for the problem. Some officers also blame the aggressive cleaning agents, used by some motorists. “Car owners should avoid the use of hard sponge and all types of cleaning agents because it could affect the number plate paint. Car wash soap usage is better to avoid such situations.”

Photo: Unsplash, Tosin James

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