Mobility has always been one of the most important aspects of both human and animal life. They have moved from one location to another as living things in search of means of surviving. While doing this, it’s crucial to safeguard against potential harm from using mechanical and non-mechanical tools for facilitating their movement, as well as external aggressors.
With the assistance of the Creator, man has developed a variety of means of transportation for traveling by land, air, and water from the first to the second industrial revolution, as well as from the third to the current fourth industrial revolution. In addition to this and in relation to the earlier submission about protection, man has also created tools or things like manifest that could be used to record the characteristics of people and goods for management purposes, particularly during emergencies or for reconciling potential discrepancies in transactions.
According to various histories, the manifest was invented to record details about people, goods, and identification routes. According to one of the accounts, manifest was first used in the aviation industry, where passengers’ information is documented for the purposes stated earlier. Though details about who was the first to use manifest are sketchy, it could be traced back to Abram C. Pheil, former mayor of St. Petersburg, who was the first paying passenger.
Passenger Manifest in Nigeria and How It Works
Because the manifest was made mandatory for Abram, it has also been a required tool for passengers in the Nigerian aviation industry for many years. Not only is it required for the industry, but it is also required for interstate passengers, according to the National Road Traffic Regulations and the law establishing the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). In other words, manifest is one of the 42 bookable offenses that the Federal Road Safety Corps is enforcing (FRSC). As a result, traffic regulators have the legal authority to advise passengers who have not registered their details such as name, blood group, contact address, phone number, destination, and next-of-name, kin’s address, and phone number to disembark at the time of the journey.
Manifest administrators who collaborate with the National Union of Road Transport Workers directly are employed at various interstate parks (NURTW). These are the people who passengers will interact with while filling out the manifest. Once it is obvious that a sizable number of passengers have seated, they typically present it to the passengers. The supervisor typically receives multiple copies of the manifest, and the supervisor then delivers those copies to the NURTW secretariat. The Union felt it was necessary to switch from a manual approach to a technology-focused manifest in 2019. It reached an agreement with an organisation.
The Perils and the Losses
As previously stated, failure to use manifest is a punishable offense. Drivers can be charged in court and fined N5,000 if they are not charged in court. Many sources claim that passengers would only be asked to disembark at the point of departure or while on the journey. However, passengers can only be disembarked if members of the FRSC conduct checks and discover that some passengers’ details are missing from the manifest. According to our experience and various sources consulted, there are numerous reasons for passengers filling and not filling out manifest. Many passengers claimed that the manifest exposes them to people, particularly male admirers, who copy their contact information and stalk them. They claim that having their information on the manifest exposes them and their family members to the public.
One of the sources stated indicated that a passenger reported: “I provided my real phone number and that of my next of kin.” I had just gotten off the bus when a male voice called me and introduced himself as a fellow bus passenger. Some of them even conceal their personal and family contact information from the public. According to the law that makes manifest mandatory, this is false information and a punishable offense.
The Gains
Aside from the risks associated with documenting passengers’ details, there are also the quick recovery of lost valuable items, and the ability to contact relatives in an emergency. According to our analyst’s recent experience, getting a refund if drivers fail to deliver the service passengers subscribed to and he agreed to execute is an important part of quickly recovering lost valuable items. On August 28, 2022, he and his colleagues set out for the northern region via the southern region. At the park, he and the other passengers filled out the manifest without questioning the driver’s missing information or the expected information from the partners (FRSC and NURTW).
After spending several hours placing luggage and passengers in their various seats, the trip began. Unfortunately, after leaving the park for a few hours, the bus started having problems, which required additional time to fix. Our analyst and other team members realized that the trip would most definitely be delayed at this point. The driver was rushing from one location to another while requesting assistance from his master. The master arrived, but his efforts could only keep our analyst and the other travelers going for a few hours.
The actual realization that the journey would not take place hit all of the passengers at this point. Each person began looking for alternate routes to get to the northern region. He promised to return to the park with the evidence he had gathered from the manifest after our analyst and other team members traveled a different route and arrived in the area. First of all, the names and phone number of the driver were missing from the manifest. Second, information about the park and the FRSC representative was also omitted. Every stakeholder should be concerned about the incomplete information because it makes it difficult to find the driver and other administrators in an emergency. Additionally, it indicates that a lot of travelers are not sufficiently alert to the importance of manifests as they travel from one place to another. After some time had passed, our analyst went to the park and described what had happened. He and his colleagues ultimately refunded a portion of the fare.
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