Lagosians groan under severe tax regime amidst meltdown
Huhuonline.com lauds the efforts of the current administration of Lagos State; those objectives are indeed commendable especially in the areas of making Lagos safer, cleaner, and for realizing the vision of a proud and enviable mega city, where investment and economic empowerment can ultimately reign.

However, these ‘‘good intentions’’ have been forcefully dragged into a situation capable of milking and extorting the good citizens of Lagos through various untoward taxes introduced by the government; the ripple effects of that have reduced Lagosians to the condition of eating from hand to mouth, and adding to the negative impacts of the global economic meltdown on the people.

The introduction of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) to ameliorate Lagos traffic gridlock was nice but the shoddy tendencies of the officials of LASTMA in the name of generating fund for the state are a serious national embarrassment. Government should stop hiding under the guise of providing service(s) for the people meanwhile they have ulterior motive of swindling the people through ‘‘legitimized’’ criminal means. We agreed that recalcitrant road users should be punished and fined accordingly where necessary, but penalties that attracts over N25,000, N30,000 N150,000 and N200,000 are no longer meaningful but clear case of government extortion on the life of the defenseless citizens.

Again, Lagos State government resuscitates the old War Against Indiscipline (WAI), an initiative of Idiagbon/Buhari led military administration; an era where all forms of indiscipline were curtailed in the Nigerian system. Lagos now introduced Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigades, headed by an ex-military man, Captain M. Danjuma. But the way they are going about it is wrong. The orientation and training given to their recruited officials are not adequate. Besides a number of their men don’t even have minimum education requirements, these defects reflect in the manner they dress, the way they address and prosecute the erring members of the public, and this does not promote the envisioned Lagos mega city at all.

Sometime last year (2008) in Victoria Island, some of these KAI officials killed an armless senior Police officer while they were on ‘routine assignment’ (demolition of shanties in Bar-Beach).The worst of it all is that they collect money indiscriminately from members of the public with no modicum of dignity. This gross indiscipline shows that the primary essence of their establishment has been long defeated. ‘‘Area boys’’ (street urchins) now sew and wear their uniforms to perpetrate crimes in the streets of Lagos. These lapses are coming up due to the way the organization was structured and managed. Even an authentic KAI brigade don’t even have a name tag on his uniform or crown on its beret to indicate whether he/she is truly a member or not. It is sad that in Oshodi where there base is, their office and surrounding environment is unkempt, and stinks of human organic wastes.

Another shocking news is that, residents of Lekki-Epe expressway will by 2010 get enmeshed into serious agony because the planned three toll plazas would be introduced on that corridor by Lagos State government. For 30 consecutive years toll fees would be collected on the road through a concessionaire who is in partnership with Lagos government. This will definitely pauperize the people the more; 3 toll plazas is too much for a 50km road, even in the developed world where their system is most organized with a defined welfare package for its youth and senior citizens that has never be practiced, their policies wear human face at all levels. However this toll collection will simultaneously take place in both Lekki-Epe axis and Lagos-Badagry expressway of Lagos State.

Further, Lagos State Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Bill were signed into law by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) on June 22, 2009. This Law imposes a five-per cent charge on goods and services consumed in hotels, restaurants, event centres and short let apartments throughout Lagos State, with effect from August 1, 2009. The special adviser to the governor on legislative matters and power bureau, Abdullateef Abdulhakeem, explained that section 1 of the new law imposes the tax on anyone who consumes goods and services in those mentioned centres, advising them to register with the state’s Internal Revenue Service, for the commencement of the payment immediately.

That means that operators of hotels, fast food centres (eateries) etc in Lagos State will now be faced with a compulsory five per cent tax, albeit the already10 percent service charge and 5 percent value added tax (VAT) they have been paying before. This is a sheer step to impoverish the citizenry. The volume of customers to those affected centres will however be reduced precipitously, making some of them to go out of business, and that will contribute to unemployment. If government cannot provide employment they should not kill businesses that are providing job opportunities for the unemployed Nigerians.

We have other agencies in Lagos State like, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA), Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA-which its present effect of high levies are now taking serious toll on people who are into outdoor advertising in the state) etc. It is glaring that the proliferation of agencies like this are meant to satisfy the interest of few politicians who are loyal to the government of the day at the expense of the citizens.

More pathetically, thousand of shops, stalls, building, churches, mosques, shrines etc have given way to Lagos ‘‘beautification exercise’’, and no definite compensation were made to the affected property owners. Most of them were told all lands belong to government. This step indeed brought sanity to the dreaded Oshodi market and other criminal hideouts for hoodlums in the state; there is now fluidity of traffic for both human and vehicle movement, but there were no provisions made for the displaced market men and women who were swept away by the Fashola ‘‘Sunami’’. The 10,000 Nigerians who were set packing at Tejusho market after being bedeviled by yearly fire disaster, is still a mystery that is yet to be unraveled to those that cares to know. Traders in Ajegunle too were equally not spared to mention a few. This cruel trend really made a lot of Nigerian youths to resort to all forms of criminal activities. We all know Lagos is a miniature Nigeria, whatever affects Lagos cascades to Nigeria at large.

Unfortunately, instead of creating palliative measures for those affected Nigerians in order to cushion the effects of some of these inhuman policies, Lagos government prefers to spend billions of naira in fighting crime in Lagos. Meanwhile we still have ‘‘Area boys’’and fraudsters loitering around popular parks and garages like Oshodi, Ojota, Iyana-Ipaja, Ojuelegba, Ikorodu, Obalende etc, harassing motorists and commuters over one form of levies and the other.

Lagos state had set good precedent in the past, which other States were even emulating, especially in its unique transportation system (land and water), waste management, housing, urban renewal etc, but those goals were championed with genuine intention to make life better for the common masses, but today, that is no longer the case. Unconfirmed reports even have it that funds that are internally generated in Lagos are now being used to fund elections and court cases for politician within and outside Nigerian States. If Lagos still want to be relevant and be seen as a pathfinder in people oriented policies and developmental programmes, it should desist from its anti people programmes and non progressive policies, and work towards offering ease of life to the people by harmonizing its tax system and removing all its ‘‘intimidating’’ burden called levies, so that Lagos would guarantee both economic and social respite for the rich and the downtrodden.

Come to the UK- you go hear wuen.

Africans africans africans smh complain to much pay your taxes mehn.

Paroh frey

So u wan begin compare Lagos with UK? Start with the salaries. How much do you get paid working in Lagos compared to UK?

As long as people can see what the money is used for, they shd not complain at all.
5% tax is nothing, just hope it will be given to the govt in the right way and that the govt has a good way to make sure that they collect the money collected by the hotels.
This cld serve as means for some under the table hotel to suck the occupants.

Nchara:

Paroh frey

So u wan begin compare Lagos with UK? Start with the salaries. How much do you get paid working in Lagos compared to UK?

Regardless of how much people get paid, the taxes are based on the income and not just anyhow.
BTW . . .what will a man that is not making enuf money doing at the hotel?

What else is there to do when you have nothing to show about yourself or your village but tirelessly and endlessly ransack the internet to dig up stuff about other people to make you feel better about your own existence?


Life must be terribly hard out there, lol.

@Nchara

[b]this looks like a hit job on the governor. . there is no civilized country or city in the world where u dont pay tax.  .in uk its close to 50%. . here in the U.S its about 35%. . if u add state it gets close to 40% for the highest paid. .

now heres what i dont get,the road being built in lekki will make the property values of those living in lekki rise.  .so what are they complaining for?

again the hoteliers,perhaps the governor will use some of the money to increase patrols at night,provide better security so ppl can go out and eat in hotels at night without fear

again more business for everybody. . i just think its greed. .

the taxes are too small to be complaining about to begin with. . .

here u pay property tax for any house u own,state income tax,federal income tax,sales tax,social security tax,health insurance fee,medicaire tax,city taxes.  .all from a single paycheck. . .

everyone gets their share. . when these journalists travel out and see the so called developed world,do they think the money falls from trees to build those roads and bridges they see?, nonsense[/b]

paddy_lo:

@Nchara

[b]this looks like a hit job on the governor. . there is no civilized country or city in the world where u dont pay tax.  .in uk its close to 50%. . here in the U.S its about 35%. . if u add state it gets close to 40% for the highest paid. .

now heres what i dont get,the road being built in lekki will make the property values of those living in lekki rise.  .so what are they complaining for?

again the hoteliers,perhaps the governor will use some of the money to increase patrols at night,provide better security so ppl can go out and eat in hotels at night without fear

again more business for everybody. . i just think its greed. .

the taxes are too small to be complaining about to begin with. . .

here u pay property tax for any house u own,state income tax,federal income tax,sales tax,social security tax,health insurance fee,medicaire tax,city taxes.  .all from a single paycheck. . .

everyone gets their share. . when these journalists travel out and see the so called developed world,do they think the money falls from trees to build those roads and bridges they see?, nonsense[/b]

Pls tell them oh

Fhemmy,
consumption tax does not depend on income. Why so many ignorant people in naija?

Fhemmmy:

Regardless of how much people get paid, the taxes are based on the income and not just anyhow.
BTW . . .what will a man that is not making enuf money doing at the hotel?

Nchara:

Fhemmy,
consumption tax does not depend on income. Why so many ignorant people in naija?

But we don't consume what's detrimental to our income. It's called cutting your coat according to your size.

like I always say, its not by force to live in lagos.

as a lagosian, the tax no be small thing o - coupled with the blasted national pension fund deductions


even so - all these anti fashola threads /newspaper articles from fourth rate practitioners of the fourth estate reek of desperation

look here PDP cohorts , you have failed . your candidate for lagos did not even have an agenda, seven point or otherwise. better focus on easing yardua out of aso rock.

Abeg pay your tax.

tpia.:

like I always say, its not by force to live in lagos.

Sad but true, . . .

@ poster

Lagos is a mega-city and any such city is expensive to live in, moreover, Lagos is not even an expensive place to live sef, just cut your coat according to your humble size, period

I honestly think this poster is quite ignorant of his posting and the writer is a persona-non grata, all his utterances do not connote his knowledge of policies and tax regimen in other mega-city.

I rest my case

BRT will not build itself.

Tell fashola to fix Ajegunle we dey pay tax too but nothing!!

Abi na only lekki be lagos now?

Tax ! any good tax must be progressive in nature,what is the correlation of the tax to what is provided for the citizen. I am not against tax- I am against Mega tax before achieving a mega status. And people should stop comparing us with UK. Its rather unfortunate to talk about tax in UK and we fail to talk about the good side of Governace there. No Power,No good roads,no water , pleaseeeeeeee spare us.

lannre:

Tax ! any good tax must be progressive in nature,what is the correlation of the tax to what is provided for the citizen. I am not against tax- I am against Mega tax before achieving a mega status. And people should stop comparing us with UK. Its rather unfortunate to talk about tax in UK and we fail to talk about the good side of Governace there. No Power,No good roads,no water , pleaseeeeeeee spare us.

And money to do all the things you want done and complain about is going to come from where?

Why try to bring Fashola down? Taxes are not new to Nigeria. What is new now is enforcement i.e. people that did not pay previously are now paying AND you can actually see the work being done with the generated revenue.

@Nchara,

Really it is becoming way too obvious now that you have something in for Fashola/Lagos. Why don't you pick one of the Igbo states and tell us about the better progress the governor has made for his people. Just leave Lagos for Lagosians for a sec.

The point is if a person does not like the taxes in Lagos, there are 49?? other states in Nigeria to try out. I live in the US, left Chicago for another state because of parking availability = parking tickets.

Again, please start a thread lauding the achievements of any of the Eastern/Southeastern state governors.

ayinba1:



Again, please start a thread lauding the achievements of any of the Eastern/Southeastern state governors.

I'm sure they'd love to, there's just nothing laud and show. I don't get how people spend so much time worrying about other people and neglect their own sorry existence.

Bad bele is indeed a terrible disease.

ayinba1:

Why try to bring Fashola down? Taxes are not new to Nigeria. What is new now is enforcement i.e. people that did not pay previously are now paying AND you can actually see the work being done with the generated revenue.

@Nchara,

Really it is becoming way too obvious now that you have something in for Fashola/Lagos. Why don't you pick one of the Igbo states and tell us about the better progress the governor has made for his people. Just leave Lagos for Lagosians for a sec.

The point is if a person does not like the taxes in Lagos, there are 49?? other states in Nigeria to try out. I live in the US, left Chicago for another state because of parking availability = parking tickets.

Again, please start a thread lauding the achievements of any of the Eastern/Southeastern state governors.

babapupa:

I'm sure they'd love to, there's just nothing laud and show. I don't get how people spend so much time worrying about other people and neglect their own sorry existence.

Bad bele is indeed a terrible disease.

cant y'all do without insults?i doubt if any of you is from Lagos because true Lagos indigenes do not behave that way.

Abagworo:


cant y'all do without insults?i doubt if any of you is from Lagos because true Lagos indigenes do not behave that way.

Quit being dramatic and don't start unnecessary noise. Must everything be insults?

complaint about heavy taxation is not perculiar to Nchara but the entire world.Even in the biblical days tax collectors were dreaded and even hated by the public.so please stop trying to ethnicize issues.

Fashola is a thief, Nigerians are idiotsss, inspite of the poverty level, fashola, still wants to squeeze out more from the people. advanced countries provide the basic public services, in Nigeria, fashola and his cohorts chop the money. there are no ambulance services, fire brigade is a non-existent, security is a disaster, no jobs, transportation headache. the social cost is too high. all money is used to maintain the omo isale eko and the brigades but there is a nice point, at least the ignorant and asleep masses could become conscious.

"talk is cheap" so says the American adage.We are all free to say or write whatever we feel but it is completely immoral for us to distort truth.
Lagos is a former capital that ahs been deglected over the years.The infrastructures are ALMOST DESTROYED and the traffic is nerve-breaking.
LASTMA brought fear into the minds of drivers as they are fined heavily for ever traffic offence.This is to enforce discipline and ensure that we follow laid down traffic rules.
The fine paid in germany for traffic offences is 10X more than what LASTMA is demanding.
No economy develops without one form of tax or the other.We all enjoy good roads,bridges,etc.They dont come free.Tax is a moral responsibility not a financial liability.

If it is too much for you, PLEASE RELOCATE TO NEIGHBOURING OGUN OR OYO STATE OR BETTERSTILL YOUR STATE OF ORIGIN.

oyb:

as a lagosian, the tax no be small thing o - coupled with the blasted national pension fund deductions


even so - all these anti fashola threads /newspaper articles from fourth rate practitioners of the fourth estate reek of desperation

look here PDP cohorts , you have failed . your candidate for lagos did not  even have an agenda, seven point or otherwise. better focus on easing yardua out of aso rock.

You need to pay your taxes if you hope for adequate supply of social amenities. I don't know why Nigerians are afraid of paying taxes.

olafolarin:

"talk is cheap" so says the American adage.We are all free to say or write whatever we feel but it is completely immoral for us to distort truth.
Lagos is a former capital that ahs been deglected over the years.The infrastructures are ALMOST DESTROYED and the traffic is nerve-breaking.
LASTMA brought fear into the minds of drivers as they are fined heavily for ever traffic offence.This is to enforce discipline and ensure that we follow laid down traffic rules.
The fine paid in germany for traffic offences is 10X more than what LASTMA is demanding.
No economy develops without one form of tax or the other.We all enjoy good roads,bridges,etc.They dont come free.Tax is a moral responsibility not a financial liability.

If it is too much for you, PLEASE RELOCATE TO NEIGHBOURING OGUN OR OYO STATE OR BETTERSTILL YOUR STATE OF ORIGIN.

I agree with everything you said except the sentence in bold.

U cannot compare Germany to Nigeria as far as traffic offence is concerned.
The minimum wage in Germany is not the same as the one in Nigeria but i agree 100% that Lagosians should be taxed and that has to be within what they can afford.
If it gets too hot for the populace, let them relocate.

YES OHH leave if you dont like lagos taxes   cause here in yankee you will pay your taxes through your income, on house, parking tickets, traffic violation tickets etc some way the govt will get its money from you. So you people should stop freaking crying go and live in the village if you rare not ready to enter new levels of development.  

Even what they call free education in yankee isnt FREE everyone pays through taxes

Now i know why Americans get angry when illegal workers work and have children in America. Its annoying mehn

you are an iidot, Lastma fines 350000 for forgetting vehicle document at home, is such a person a criminal? the real criminals are terrorising Lagos, and the touts fashola appointed as security are too scared to confront, rather pursue innocent weak and law-abiding citizens.   i think i'm justified not pay taxes because there is nothing absolutely that is gained. rather, trees and grasses and flowers is what he can show for it.

Kay 17:

you are an iidot, Lastma fines 350000 for forgetting vehicle document at home, is such a person a criminal? the real criminals are terrorising Lagos, and the touts fashola appointed as security are too scared to confront, rather pursue innocent weak and law-abiding citizens. i think i'm justified not pay taxes because there is nothing absolutely that is gained. rather, trees and grasses and flowers is what he can show for it.

What about the basic amenities you are enjoying in Lagos?