By Iliyasu Gadu, Ilgad2009@gmail.com
08035355706 (Texts only)
It is deeply regrettable that a good many of the responses I received on my article last week ‘’Lagos and the rest of us’’ tended to be abusive and did little to address the substantive issue. I got the impression that those who chose to insult me for writing the article were not happy that I bucked the popular but misleading narrative on the status of Lagos on the matter of revenue generation in Nigeria.
My position in the article is that while it is indeed true that Lagos has the highest IGR state in the country, a critical look would show that pretty much of the revenues so generated emanate from the import-export and allied services from that endeavour which are linked to the huge economic activities and requirements from the hinterlands of Nigeria. And the fact that Lagos has been the capital of Nigeria from 1914 up until 1991 when Abuja replaced it, also added up to the huge revenue generating capacity and advantages of Lagos.
But Lagos itself produces very little if at all of the commodities exported through its ports. And much of what is imported through Lagos is by governments of states and businessmen from the hinterland. It is mainly from these economic activities that Lagos generates the revenues attributed to it.
It figures that the baseline that had all along been used to calculate and distribute tax revenues which unduly favours Lagos is faulty. Accordingly the new Tax Reform Bill which is being proposed by President Bola Tinubu which is premised ipso facto is decidedly superficial by its DNA and cannot be justifiable as a law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No amount of spin, no amount of sophistry can wash away the stain on such a flawed law if it does not take into consideration the very factor of determining where Lagos truly stands in all of this and where the rest of us feature. This should be the departure point of the Tax Reform Bill and if President Tinubu really intends to make a clean breast of it as he claims then he cannot shirk from this.
Some respondents attempted to label me an urgent of disunity and defender of ‘’the lazy, parasitic North’’ as they put it. Such narratives have been making the rounds for some time now such that they have almost become standard fare in the public space. People who hold such opinions may be bedecked in bespoke apparel and affect some sophistication, but I believe truly that they are in need of deeper knowledge and understanding of the importance of factors and players in the production process. Suffice to say that it is only in Nigeria that people engaged in the production of commodities and food items that we all feed and sustain on are called ‘’lazy and parasitic’’ with a straight face and without a shred of irony.
In the course of the responses too it came to light that even in Lagos there are issues of marginalization. A caller told me in the course of our discussion that the indigenous Awori and Egun Yoruba sub-ethnic groups are being marginalised in the state in political and economic terms.
The long and short of it is that though the primacy of Lagos as the Entreport of Nigeria is acknowledged and recognised, it however amounts to a disproportionate loading of the deck to continue to allocate more tax revenues to it without determining what it realistically brings to the revenue table.
Following are some of the responses from readers to the article.
Your article touched a very sensitive issue regarding the Aworis of Lagos and Yewas of Ogun states. It is true that the bulk of the slaves sold by Madam Tinubu in those days came from the two sub-ethnic groups of Yoruba land. Incidentally I am from both groups by parentage.
I can say without fear of contradiction that both groups up till today are being marginalized in both states. In Lagos here many of our political representatives from House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate are not from Lagos. The same thing happens in the Lagos Civil service and in appointments as Commissioners. Majority of the Banks, insurance companies, real estate and properties and many other things in Lagos are dominated and owned by people from other states. We have been cheated for too long by people from other Yoruba states who use the wealth they get from Lagos to deny our people development and instead develop their own states. Many Nigerians are not aware of this simply because they see us all as Yorubas.
Kolawole Somorin, Iyana Ipaja Lagos
Your article entitled, ‘’Lagos and the rest of us’’ makes a very interesting reading in context, content and delivery. Logically presented, it added colour to the issue of fiscal federalism and takes a balanced position on the matter. Thanks for your efforts as a patriotic Nigerian.
08033281750.
Please do you think dredging the River Niger from Onitsha will provide the draught needed for ocean-going ships to sail to Baro? How about an operational order requiring importers on the South-East and the South-South to route their imports to Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri?
M.T Usman. 08033067825
Good morning Mr Iliyasu.
Your column ‘’Lagos and the rest of us’’ was insightful and at the same time scary. So if Lagos decides to show us ‘’shege’’, we are doomed. Something needs to be done.
08036130590
Re-‘’Lagos and the rest of us’’. May Allah bless you for this wonderful and thought provoking piece.
Hassan Jibril, 09136790526
You are agent of disunity and defender of lazy and parasitic Northerners who don’t want to work but to continue to depend on Federal Allocation. Tinubu is trying to restructure Nigeria so that every state will look inwards but you are sabotaging him with your write up.
Dayo Oluwatoyin Braimoh, Oshogbo Osun state.
Mr Writer, you yourself said it in your article that Lagos has been capital of Nigeria for long. Whatever is given to Lagos as revenue is deserved because it is not easy to host the whole of Nigeria and West Africa all these years. President Tinubu is doing the right thing.
Toye Ogunbona, Ijebu Ode Ogun state.
Anybody who says Northerners are lazy is wrong. Dangote a northerner is the largest private employer in the entire South-West. He is also one of the highest taxpayers through his companies. Everyday hundreds of truck loaded with commodities, ingredients, cattle and other essential food items leave the North for the south.
I agree with you totally that Lagos does not produce any export commodity and 70 to 80 per cent of the food consumed there comes from the North. Indeed the Breweries that produce the alcoholic beverages which many southerners say should not be shared to the north as proceeds of VAT since they do not consume the stuff rely on commodities from the north. Without sorghum, maize etc and other commodities sourced from the North many of such companies would collapse. So the North has every right to partake from the proceeds of VAT from alcoholic drinks.
Aminu Mohammed Salijo, Ngurore, Adamawa state.
I quite support that port operations should be diversified in Nigeria. Our business men from the South-East are the main importers and exporters at the Lagos port. South-Easterners have also contributed a lot of revenue to Lagos. But today they want to drive us out of the city that we built with our sweat. It is not fair. I appeal to our businessmen to start relocating to the region with their businesses.
Chijioke Njoku, Onitsha Anambra state.
Yes I agree with you Sir that it is dangerous for our economy to be concentrated in Lagos. The South-West is using the location of Lagos and the revenue from there to agitate for Oduduwa Republic. It is a bad omen.
Omeiza Phillip, Lokoja Kogi state.
Iliyasu Gadu, a former Foreign Service Officer who served at the Nigerian Missions in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), is a columnist with Daily Trust
