Comments from Punch Readers:

Afam
• 9 hours ago

Cabals have prevailed,just like they did in cements has the price come down since then? no..FG kept on putting more pressure on lower class..how of those manufacturers will meet the demands?


okonjjo iwealla
• 8 hours ago

Another evidence the govt is broke. they want more money&they are raising it through several means. Car plate number, bcmr , driver's license, now another tariff tokunbo car tariff. Yet they reject the notion of being labeled as a BROKE govt. God save Nigeria

mohinder
• 3 hours ago

ignorance at the highest level, let start producing cars before you increase the import tariff


Adetayo Adewale Adebowale
• 5 hours ago

Nigerian government functionaries always come up with genuine ideas but operates withouth strategy,how can Nigeria ban importation of Used cars from Manufacturing economies when Nigeria is not even ready and equipped to generate enough energy/power(electricity) to drive manufacturing, apart from raw material,electricity to power industies is next ingredient for a sustainable industrialization, Nigeria continues to flare it natural gas resources. Can we continue to cry corruption or can we just say successive Nigerian governments are wasteful? Nigeria can not even generate and supply enough electricity for domestic consumption to talk of do industries. Almost every household in Nigeria have an electric power generator. Common Nigerian government give us a break you guys are thieves period. (Adetayo Adewale Adebowale . New York).

Sunday Njokede
• 14 minutes ago

To start with: where is the electricity to power this ‘new industrialisation’? Liars! And again, is there functional Middle Class in Nigeria who would buy these cars and move the economy forward. Are workers going to use 18 thousand Naira Minimum Wage to pay a whopping N1.2m and N1.5m. Naira car? How long would they save 18 thousands before getting N1.2m? Would Nigerians drive their cars in their dead graves?

Without electricity, good roads and others it’d be very difficult. And besides which middle class would buy them? There is no Middle Class in Nigeria. Nigeria has two strata: rich and poor – not the rich who power the economy but the middle class.

The tariff on imported cars is high enough. Government should not steep it up more so. We are waiting for you people 2015 presidential election. We are voting Jonathan out. This policy is unnecessary strain on the poor who tries to buy car.



emeka
• 8 minutes ago

all of you commenting on this blog are stupid. who told u we don't have local manufacturers like INNOSON, IVECO TRUCKS,ASHOK LEYLAND etc. Don't u know that when they are empowered, they have the capacity to produce jobs in their millions and add value to the economy. South Africa has all the worlds' motor brands assembly plant in their country. do u know how significant that is?

Hailings o.

What a day... Agagu dem first do their own.
A dear friend just lost his mum... She collapsed and less than 30 mins she was out. Paramedics did all they could to revive her. She did not even get to leave home, not to talk of getting her to the hospital

When the times are good, we drink beer
When the times are bad, we drink beer
When the times are just the times, we drink beer still.

Abeg, wete'm one very cold big stout there... Make sure it is mortuary standard; I'm in a mourning mood

EXCLUSIVE: Nigeria Police hijacks controversial car registration project from firm that offered services for N500

Nigeria police’s latest car registration effort, which has drawn outrage over its mandatory N3, 500 charge on motorists, was founded on a shady process that involved police authorities rejecting a far more affordable alternative that would have cost only N500, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.

After its repeated failure at rolling out the digitalized car registry, the police finally received a proposal for the job from a local tech firm that offered to exclusively fund the project, train police personnel, and charge Nigerians only N500 per car.

At the rate, PREMIUM TIMES has found, estimated profit for the project would have been N50 per unit, to be shared equally between the police and the firm, according to a Memorandum of Understanding reached by both sides in 2011.

But the force has since unilaterally jettisoned that agreement, and now stipulates a new cost of N3,500-about 600 percent higher- for the registration of every car under the scheme, in violation of a senate decision in 2012, ordering the suspension of the charge.

At N3, 500 per user, police authorities will net about N140 billion from Nigerians, based on estimates by the Federal Road Safety Corp, FRSC, that Nigeria is home to between 35 million and 40 million cars. The amount does not include the N1, 500 charged per motorcycle.

The police has not provided explanations why it raised the cost of the project by 600 percent, or why it discarded the agreement with the tech firm.

Police spokesperson, Frank Mba, denied that the project was ever approved for N500, or that it was opposed by the Senate. He said the initial consideration was N5, 000, but was only reviewed downwards by the current Inspector General of police, Mohammed Abubakar, as a mark of “respect to Nigerians”.

“Nobody said N500, otherwise the media would have come up with the evidence by now,” Mr. Mba said.

But through interviews with the force personnel, and other government officials, as well as the review of several project-related documents, PREMIUM TIMES has obtained damning details that now raise serious questions about the true intent of the registration project.

The police claims the technology will naturally be deployed against crime and terrorism. But a distrustful public has accused the force of imposing an extra burden on Nigerians, for a purpose already served by the FRSC, and whose main drive is certain to be monetary.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, agreed to by the police and the company, 2TOC Solution Limited, the police was to spend no kobo on the scheme, beyond providing the firm with an operational accommodation, identification for its staff, and making available the police’s communication infrastructure, the documents show.

In turn, the firm was to provide the required funding, train police personnel in the relevant department, and operate the scheme for a minimum of five years.

“The RCCS Project cost is Four Hundred and Fifty Naira (N450.00) in every Five Hundred Naira to which a profit of Fifty Naira (N50.00) on every registration shall accrue; this shall be shared on a 50:50 basis between the parties; and shall be remitted to the force on quarterly basis,” the MOU, authored by the police legal department, and signed by the two sides on January 25, 2011, said.

While Audu Abubakar, a Deputy Inspector General of police, and Jubril Adeniji, a Commissioner of Police, signed for the Nigeria Police, Benson Olatunji, 2TOC’s Chief Executive Officer, and Abba Kasim, the company’s Executive Director, signed for the tech firm.

The amount agreed then, is a far cry from the N3, 500 the police is currently asking the public to pay for the registration.

The exercise is expected to cover the cost of creating a digital data record and backup, a plastic identification card and hand-held verification device, prospects the police says will prove key against car theft and terrorism.

But beyond raising the cost of the proposed registration, PREMIUM TIMES has found how the entire project has been riddled with police’s flouting of instructions and advice, including those from the Senate and the Joint Tax Board.

The first opposition to the project came from the Joint Tax Board in 2011. The Board, which harmonizes the various taxes payable by the public, said in 2011 that the scheme was “laudable” as the nation faced insecurity, but advised that the N500 per head be financed by the police, and not by Nigerians.

“..Nigeria police should finance and own the project since the project is laudable and will enhance national security,” the board said in December 2011 letter.

That position was followed months later by a motion by the Senate, asking that the project be suspended. Both instructions were flouted.

While the police pushed on with the project against the Senate’s opposition, it did so at public cost against the advice of the Joint Tax Board, and even so, at an outlandish rate more than the Board opposed.

Senators are said to be considering a new motion on the case. A spokesperson for the senate, Enyinayya Abaribe, did not respond to our calls for confirmation.

The controversy over the registration project dates back to the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and stretched into the Umaru Yar’Adua government.

Both administrations rejected the plan as illegal, and advised the police to team with the FRSC for a centralized, digitalized car registration.

The latest project began in 2010 after 2TOC Solution Limited contacted the police and sought to partner with the force for the plan, according to police official records.

PREMIUM TIMES has obtained letters showing how former Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, was first briefed about the programme in 2010, and how he approved the project after he became convinced it would help tackle car bombings and theft.

After the endorsement, the prototype was demonstrated before police authorities and the media, and the sum of N500 was announced as unit price, culminating in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two sides.

According to the MOU, the police and the technology firm were to deliver on their responsibilities for the deal.

But while the company began deploying its equipment and staff to commence work, the police withheld its staff from the agreed training and did not budge throughout 2011 and 2012.

Throughout the period, police officials reportedly said the proposal was still being considered and would soon take off.

What followed was the decision by the force in 2013, to unilaterally roll out the plan, defying the senate resolution, and the Joint Tax Board.

A spokesperson for 2TOC, Soji Bamidele, declined to comment for this story, but however confirmed our findings that the company had an agreement with the police to implement the project.


http://premiumtimesng.com/news/145847-exclusive-nigeria-police-hijacks-controversial-car-registration-project-from-firm-that-offered-services-for-n500.html#/jobs

berem: You think you won't pay tax here too? you must be joking. Am calling on the LIRS guys to start enforcing tax payment here.let the big boss give a go ahead.

LWKM here o!

OAM4J... How far with the asunguy na? I get one sharp Laspotech boy wey sabi do am well o

They used one 'band' thing to calculate am o. Said I fell into one nonsense band like that... Hiss. Heaven help you make you go one 'correct' restaurant for VI or Ikeja. 10% extra of wetin you chop must enter tax. VAT, Lagos state tax, entertainment tax. Why una think say I run come this beer parlour? I cannot come and go and die young jare.

Gimme big stout joo. Barman, wey you na?

Tax in Lagos na die. I pay 80k in income tax alone! All the other ones dey there o. Fasola, fear God o. Ehen

^^^

*Covers eyes*.

Abeg leave space for us beer drinkards o, ehen

Thanks!

I got as much as I could covering the entire length of the express. More than enough proof for any other contrversy.

Barman! Give Berem one cold Andre on my tab!

And bring two big stout for me sharp sharp! You can see the sun is out full force in town today.

Quickly o!

Holuwahphemy: You think i'll tell u what you wanted 2 hear? 2 say kudos 2 ur stup.idity? 2 cheer d crap you call write up? Mehn dis country sha. Driving a car does'nt mean u own it man. I culd drive my dads car nd still tell people i own it nd even if u own it, God knws frm which source (Are you kidding me?). You had beta start praying, 'cos Your photo is being used by your enemy 2 fan herself. Smh.

Wait o... is that all you could summon as a rebuttal? I was right. Little or no intelligence.

Such that we do not get mixed up and folks don't know who the actual dullard is, I'll stop giving you a response. You may convince me to do otherwise when your grammar is fixed.

Cheers mate.

Trev: Freezy!!! Awesome pictures! i soo love travelling by road. Your pictures told a story that can be interpreted in so many ways depending on what the viewer sees. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks. That was some refreshing perspective. Numero uuuno, Koruji, Idealsneed . Thanks guys.
I know what I did was risky, but there was the need to clarify the current state of the road.

Holuwahphemy: Lyk seriously, what made me click on this post was i thought u made d trip by foot. But seeing u used a car and posting all those bullshi.t crap made me realised nigeria really need 2 go on a state of emergency (especially in d unemployment sector) . Truly, unemployment is a bad thing. Can make a full grown man post some babylike stuff lyk dis. No offence meant

^^^

^^^^

Errr... your grammar deserves an immediate declaration of a state of emergency in tutoring of the English language in Nigeria.

If also you cannot decipher that the purpose of the post was not to entertain but to educate and clarify the state of that particular road based on the various arguements that have been on-going on nairaland, your education is a waste... No offence.

Lastly, if you think someone that drives a W203 (google is your friend) in such an avante garde condition is unemployed, instead of the fact that he took a major risk to clarify stuff that is beneficial to users of that road, and Nigerians in general, then cosmic powers are dancing 'skelewu' with your destiny.

Too many kids on Nairaland. Eiish!!

Thanks o. Nothing do you.

That car get im worry o... If you carry am go see babe, just know say no be KFC lunch go happen o. Na OceanView and Intercontinental Hotel luncheon requests you go get. But e get as we dey scam dem. When you come collect am, I go tell you

Who dey here na? Person no fit drink beer again ni?

Barman! Barman!!

Enough hailings o.

Sorry this is coming late jare.

https://www.nairaland.com/1447875/road-trip-lagos-ibadan-pictures#18265310

Berem, Nne, na im be that o

The road claims another casualty.

That dude lost both tyres in front.

And once again, I survived the Lagos-Ibadan expressway! I arrive Ibadan in one piece! 3 hours 43 minutes upon departure from Lagos Island

God bless Nigeria!

^^^^

And median clearing ends!

RCC has also decided to use some of the red & white road barriers. Dunno what they are for anyway. There is no indication of anything going on there

For no apparent reason, not like there's a cogent reason though, that goat is driving against traffic, endangering the life of other road users

Details of the truck as I drove by.

That was the dude driving. Luckily, he came out of it alive.

Median clearance, median clearance, median clearance and then, another major casualty.

This happened right in front of me. The Dangote truck tried to avoid a pot-hole and lost control. It flipped over and went "Boom! Crash! Bang! Boom!" as the tyres exploded when it landed on the ground. The sound of metal on tarmac with the accompanying tyre explosions were soooo loud! Jeez! it was on of my scariest moments this year. It looked just like a movie, except this was right in my presence. Had to park and let off some steam

^^^^

And the road claimed the first victim,

That car ran into a giant pot-hole and lost a tyre. No one was injured though.

Wait o,

RCC's doing sumn! Yeah, the middle part is being cleared of bush

Rains are here... In full force.

Looks like there's not much done on RCC's part

And I get to Sagamu... JB working on less than 500meters!!! This road will not be finished till 2030 o!

That was where the road repairs got launched July 5, 2013

On I go.

Lemme see what RCC has done on their part.

The only Caterpillar working...

On I go...

On I go...

The first truck I see with some form of activity

Men at work!!! . That notification is a joke

Finally, just before getting to Sagamu, we begin to see signs of some JB construction work.

My opinion o, but the guys fixing the Challenge - Toll gate (Ibadan) road dualization have work going on on a much larger scale... More like x10.

Are the Federals not supposed to be the ones with the big guns ni?

And I arrive at Deeper Life Camp.

Oops! The rains are here... pictures amy lose a little crispyness. Hopefully it'll clear soon.

Out of MFM Camp traffic.

You can see the build up on the other side. It is always very bad. Folks spend a minimum of 2.5 hours in it

And I get on the long bridge...

*covers eyes* at state of roads

Traffic build up just before MFM camp

Just got out of the 3rd mainland traffic. You can see the traffic at Oworu build up too

Apparently, those guys fixing stuff were the cause

And here I am at Berger, 1 hr 6 minutes after I left Lagos Island. Whew! Lagos and traffic...

Hi guys.

MTN was at it again yesterday. I could not upload more than those ones. Had to go fight at their outlet this morning. Even at that... Had to get an Etisalat to allow me continue.

It should be an easy breeze henceforth... I hope.

Ran into some traffic on 3rd mainland bridge. Heard it was due to som repair work. What kinda contractor does repair work just when rush hour's around the corner?

danadam: I believe you enjoyed your trip. How's your benz doin? I can deduce it's a facelift W203. more pix.

You are absolutely correct. It is a facelift W203. Amazing machine it is. Its over a year now and I'm loving every second with it. Her name is Lillian by the way...