backbencher:


I also pay taxes, paye, vat, etc...

But

1. Overall, as a country, our tax to gdp ratio is 6.1% . That's lower than even Niger (15%) , Ghana (24%) South Africa (23%) , the USA (33%), France (45%) and Denmark (46%). Then GDP is also very low. (We got called out over our low tax to gdp ratio by the World Bank some time ago. Plus the APC government ran on poor tax revenues in 2015, and Fowler was made FIRS head so that he could fix the problem...and we ended up going from 5.8 to 6.1%).

2.60% of Nigerians don't pay taxes to the federal coffers because they work in the informal sector.

horsepower102:


But even at that, it’s not a good excuse for Nigeria not to have more modern looking cities outside of some parts of Lagos and Abuja.

The truth is that a lot of Nigerians are comfortable in their underdevelopment. If you come back in another 50 years, you will be shocked that not much development has happened despite all the years that have gone by.

Well you right in that,actually a lot of Nigerians are actually comfortable in their undeveloped environment, but I think it will change,the older generation are more guilty of this

horsepower102:


Water supply and water treatment facilities
Modern drainage network all around the city
Fiber optics
Road markings
Waste disposal and management
Intracity rail network
A proper downtown and business district
24/7 electricity
Fire hydrant in major neighborhoods

And so many other things Abuja is missing

KoshCAD:
Excuse of a failure.

Hiroshima was leveled to the ground, go and see it today.

How many part of igbo land experience war?

Nonsense.

horsepower102:


All major cities of Igboland was completely destroyed.

Japan and Germany received money to rebuild their country after the war.

Igbos and eastern region in general were abandoned. No money was given to rebuild. They even seized all igbo peoples money in the bank and gave them only 20 pounds.

backbencher:


1.You want good stuff, you pay for it. That's why private companies provide better service than government companies. (eg covenant university can provide decent accommodation facilities for its students compared to OAU ile Ife.).

UK cities are better than Nigerian cities because they pay something called council tax...which is a lot of money, but it is used for good city services.

2.Nigeria is an oil dependent country...meaning

a) We don't have enough money because oil prices jump up and down and are never at a level that can sustain us (and our very large population does not help matters too)

b) We use the money to import and import...we even import stuff that we make...and the value of imports are more than that of exports.

c) Industrial countries are able to set the prices of their industrial exports..meaning they can earn far more money than oil dependent countries.

d) The only oil dependent countries that do 'well' are countries that have very small populations.

e) Even if we go and tell the North and SW to 'do agriculture' the same arguments apply...that's why no African country is rich enough and most subsaharan African countries are just as debt ridden and poor as we are. The places where they set the prices for cocoa, iron, cotton, and so on is the same place they set the price for oil...London, Paris and New York.


Let's become industrial, and raise our tax to gdp ratio from 6.1% to higher...and then we can get somewhere.(Accountability and fighting corruption is importante)

Not this one where we are fighting over VAT money and oil money...meanwhile Bauchi and Rivers state are doing nothing about attracting industries or encoruaging domestic production of industrial goods for export.

forgiveness:


What is your definition of modern drainage?

Who told you their is no intracity rail network in Abuja?

What is central business district in Abuja for?

forgiveness:



They were not receiving allocation and federal roads/bridges were abandoned, right?

BeardedMeat:
So Nigerians are paying enough tax yet?

Then how come all those tax officers are living larger than life?

In 2018, 19 million Nigerians paid into federal or state coffers, according to government data.

A World Bank report in that year put the country's economically active population at 65 million - so even with rising numbers of taxpayers in recent years, that is still less than 30% paying tax.

The government has been going after individuals that it believes are liable for tax and have not been paying.

Two years ago, the country offered a 12-month amnesty for Nigerians to declare and pay taxes on all previously undeclared income and assets to avoid penalty payments and possible prosecution.

A World Bank report last year said this was only partly successful with just 8% of the target achieved by the end of the amnesty period.

However, many Nigerians will be reluctant to pay taxes because of concerns the money raised may be siphoned off instead of being spent on health, education and other public services.

horsepower102:


The reason why I struggle with your list of excuses is that If you compare the pictures of some Nigerian cities (that never experienced war) to their present day condition, you will be shocked to the bone that not much has changed.

The excuses that you are stating above don't explain this fundamental problem.

Look at Bogota in Columbia and see how it went from a decaying slum to where it is today. Columbia's economy was not doing well during that time period. Yet they were still able to transform Bogota.

Efewestern:


You just want to argue blindly. The young man gave you perfect reason as to why Nigeria isn't doing well, yet you kept beating around the bush, are you here to engage intellectually or you want to go the usual naija tribalistic way?

How can a country like Nigeria develop when we are not being productive, what do you want to use to develop a clean and modernized city? Water ?

A country that imports basically everything she consumes has no business talking about development.

horsepower102:


And I responded by telling him that It not enough excuse for lack of development. Visit cities of kenya, tanzania and Zimbabwe that havent tasted 10% of the money we made from oil since the 70's yet they look better than so many Nigerian cities. I clearly explained in multiple responses why his excuses doesn't make complete sense.

horsepower102:


All major cities of Igboland was completely destroyed.

Japan and Germany received money to rebuild their country after the war.

Igbos and eastern region in general were abandoned. No money was given to rebuild. They even seized all igbo peoples money in the bank and gave them only 20 pounds.

Efewestern:


Zimbabwe? Tanzania? Kenya?

Are you really comparing these countries to us? Do you know how many Zimbabweans flood SA daily? Presently, only South Africa and some few other countries fair better than us and we know why.

Almost all African nations are facing similar challenges. What top class cities can you find in Tanzania and Kenyan? Can any even compete with what is obtainable in India?

His excuses makes perfect sense. We are not making enough money to do anything. How much do we make from oil sales? And how much is being shared to unproductive states? Can you build a skyscraper with 1 million naira?

horsepower102:


So basically you are saying that lack of taxes and oil dependency is the reason why Nigerian cities that never experienced war are underdeveloped?

I am not sure that I am convinced by that reasoning

horsepower102:


But so many countries whose cities were on par with Nigerian cities in the 60s and 70s still found a way to modernize their cities. So many south east Asian countries had horrible levels of development in comparison to today.

babasolution:
Nigeria had a period from about the late 80s to early 2000s about 30yrs of no growth,economic repression,things were stagnant,imagine no development for 30yrs,that's what caused the underdevelopment of Nigeria cities I think

barragan:


Some of Nigeria's most important infrastructures were built in that time period you call stagnant.

horsepower102:


Don't hide under tribalism card to delegitimize a common sense question. If a place never experienced war and yet remains underdeveloped for over 50 years, it is pertinent to ask why why it is that way.

KoshCAD:
Show the picture proof of all the major cities that were destroyed. Let us see the how it was leveled the way we say that of Hiroshima.


Which money do they seized, how many igbos get up to 20pounds that time. Lie kee you there.

Below is a picture of Hiroshima leveled to the ground. Show the pictures of your cities leveled to the ground like that

I hate lies.

horsepower102:


The war forced Igbos to adopt a survivalist mentality because Igbos understood that nothing is ever coming from the Federal Government.

It motivated them to use the little resources that they had after the war to rebuild their cities. I have seen pictures and videos of Owerri, Onitsha, Aba, and Enugu after the war. The devastation was shocking.

Unlike Germany and Japan that received and benefited from reconstruction money, The Igbos didn't get a dime.

This is why I wonder why those whose cities were left intact still struggle with development.

horsepower102:


I was just waiting for someone to mention Lagos. Only certain parts of Lagos is developed. Like 10-15% and when I refer to those parts as developed, I am talking of west African standard.

Abuja has more development because it was built from scratch. Yet still lacking a lot when compared to so many cities in modern times.

Anything else mentioned out of the above two is not an honest opinion.

backbencher:
Well

1.OP you are comparing other cities capitals to your average Nigerian city..you should know that a capital is the showpiece.

2The reason why all Nigerian cities are underdeveloped is simple....we don't pay the taxes to make them developed. We are a resource dependent nation with a low GDP. Expecting us to be like Singapore with a GDP per capita of 60000 usd, while Nigeria is at 2400 usd. is like expecting miracles.

3.Instead of saying my city is better than yours, agitate for things like council taxes so that we can have better cities, and also vote in the right leaders.

Nigerian cities are all a mess, and we are doing nothing to make them better. All Nigerian cities.

4.Most Nigerians don't want to be like Singapore. You guys don't want to be industrial. You all want to fight over how money is shared at the center.

PROUDIGBO:
After looking at the present state of countries and city-states we were better than in 1960 (like South-Korea, Dubai and Singapore), any Nigerian (Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Itshekiri, Ijaw, Igala, etc) that isn’t filled with shame, anger and frustration at our lot in present day ‘one Nigeria’....something is definitely wrong with such a person!