“So somebody comes and says that we have increased by 400 per
cent. The 400 per cent of what? You were paying ten thousand naira
before, we say you should pay fifty thousand naira, you are saying,
you are calculating and turning statistics upside down by saying it
is 400 per cent. Is it still not still small?”
While N50,000 may mean nothing to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and
the people in that hall who were nodding and applauding him, N50,
000 means a big deal to some people. Many of whom came out to vote
him into power in 2015. Mr. Governor, 400 per cent is 400 per cent
whether it is an increase on five naira or five million naira.
Granted, the charge has been reduced.
“But you know the truth, pensioners, you don’t need to pay;
owner-occupier is just point something percent; churches, mosque,
NGOs, government institutions, is free. So who is going to take
care of the ones that are free? if you are owner-occupier, you
don’t need to pay, so it’s the commercial part that people are
shouting.”
It seems that the governor and all the people around him forget
or refuse to avert their minds to the fact that most owners of
these commercial properties that are supposed to bear the weight of
this charge will shift the liability to their tenants either
directly or indirectly. Whether the bill is given to the tenants to
settle or the landlord increases rents to meet his new liability,
or industries factor it into their cost of production, it is the
same people who they expect to deliver votes for them next year
that will suffer. A government should take care not to enact laws
that have a contradictory effect on existing laws. The effect of
this law is contrary to the spirit of Section 37(1) the Tenancy Law
of 2011 which protects tenants from unreasonable increase in rent
in the areas where the law applies.
“So but the truth is this, that is the real story. Pensioners,
eh, owner-occupier, they don’t really pay anything and all that, so
why have we increased? We should have been doing it every five
years, but I am looking at it, if I must sustain, according to what
Mr Napoleon referred to, if I want to sustain the level of my
vision, I have to throw something back to people. I don’t need to
come and meet you if I continue to borrow money…”
Mr. Governor, whose fault is it that the charge was not reviewed
as planned? No one considered that a phased implementation of the
increase would be more acceptable? Unless a person or business is
minting money, the sums on the bills that have been sent out even
with the subsequent 50% decrease will shock their system.
“Shouldn’t somebody be able to tell you the bitter truth? And
then let’s say let’s sacrifice together. That’s what we have done
here. The number of people that are really affected in all these
commercial transactions, they are like 300,000 against 34 million.
Because almost every other thing in the Land Use Charge is
technically free. And then you know, they have the resources to
attack us. So they will just, you know, scaremongering and
blackmail and everything, but we are ready for dialogue. That’s the
bottom line. (applause)”
There is no scaremongering going on in Lagos. The only people
who believed that the noise was all scaremongering and blackmail
are people who had not received a bill from the Land Use Charge
office. When a smoke alarm is set off, it is a warning sign that
there is danger. A blaring smoke alarm is a call to action, to find
the source of the smoke and contain the problem to prevent a fire
that could burn down the building. Social media may make the
Government jittery, but it is the smoke alarm for these times.
Lagos is about to burn to the ground, Mr. Governor. It would be a
good idea to pay attention to the smoke alarm.
The bitter truth, Mr. Governor, is that you and all the
architects of the new law missed the mark on this one. This law and
what it represents is the banana peel that you carelessly tossed on
your way to the 2019 polls. You have slipped on an obstacle of your
own creation, and whether you and your party get up with just a
bruised knee or a multiple-fractured ankle is in the hands of the
people, and only time will tell.
If the Lagos State Government cared about the welfare of its
citizens, dialogue should have taken place before, not after, the
law was passed. Yes, the land use rates have been reduced and the
people have been given an option of paying in instalments and we
are supposed to applaud. But we must still ask a few questions. Who
are the stakeholders that influenced the reduction of the charge?
Why were these stakeholders not consulted in the first place? On
what basis was the charge reduced by 50% or is this some arbitrary
figure that was settled upon to keep the people quiet until 2019?
What is Lagos doing with all the money that it has collected thus
far? It is not enough to reclaim lands from the ocean and make the
rich comfortable; the dividends of good governance and
infrastructure must reach every corner of the state and I know that
I speak for Apapa residents when I say that we are yet to feel the
benefits of living in this “progressive” state. And finally, what
exactly does this reduction in the rate mean? Will there be a
repeal of the law? An amendment? Or is this the case of the rat
that blows soothingly as it bites the skin off your foot? Forgive
me if I am not excited about the governor’s subsequent announcement
on the reduction of the Land Use Charge. With Lagos State being as
opaque as it is, you will understand my apprehension.
Concluded
“So somebody comes and says that we have increased by 400 per
cent. The 400 per cent of what? You were paying ten thousand naira
before, we say you should pay fifty thousand naira, you are saying,
you are calculating and turning statistics upside down by saying it
is 400 per cent. Is it still not still small?”
While N50,000 may mean nothing to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and
the people in that hall who were nodding and applauding him, N50,
000 means a big deal to some people. Many of whom came out to vote
him into power in 2015. Mr. Governor, 400 per cent is 400 per cent
whether it is an increase on five naira or five million naira.
Granted, the charge has been reduced.
“But you know the truth, pensioners, you don’t need to pay;
owner-occupier is just point something percent; churches, mosque,
NGOs, government institutions, is free. So who is going to take
care of the ones that are free? if you are owner-occupier, you
don’t need to pay, so it’s the commercial part that people are
shouting.”
It seems that the governor and all the people around him forget
or refuse to avert their minds to the fact that most owners of
these commercial properties that are supposed to bear the weight of
this charge will shift the liability to their tenants either
directly or indirectly. Whether the bill is given to the tenants to
settle or the landlord increases rents to meet his new liability,
or industries factor it into their cost of production, it is the
same people who they expect to deliver votes for them next year
that will suffer. A government should take care not to enact laws
that have a contradictory effect on existing laws. The effect of
this law is contrary to the spirit of Section 37(1) the Tenancy Law
of 2011 which protects tenants from unreasonable increase in rent
in the areas where the law applies.
“So but the truth is this, that is the real story. Pensioners,
eh, owner-occupier, they don’t really pay anything and all that, so
why have we increased? We should have been doing it every five
years, but I am looking at it, if I must sustain, according to what
Mr Napoleon referred to, if I want to sustain the level of my
vision, I have to throw something back to people. I don’t need to
come and meet you if I continue to borrow money…”
Mr. Governor, whose fault is it that the charge was not reviewed
as planned? No one considered that a phased implementation of the
increase would be more acceptable? Unless a person or business is
minting money, the sums on the bills that have been sent out even
with the subsequent 50% decrease will shock their system.
“Shouldn’t somebody be able to tell you the bitter truth? And
then let’s say let’s sacrifice together. That’s what we have done
here. The number of people that are really affected in all these
commercial transactions, they are like 300,000 against 34 million.
Because almost every other thing in the Land Use Charge is
technically free. And then you know, they have the resources to
attack us. So they will just, you know, scaremongering and
blackmail and everything, but we are ready for dialogue. That’s the
bottom line. (applause)”
There is no scaremongering going on in Lagos. The only people
who believed that the noise was all scaremongering and blackmail
are people who had not received a bill from the Land Use Charge
office. When a smoke alarm is set off, it is a warning sign that
there is danger. A blaring smoke alarm is a call to action, to find
the source of the smoke and contain the problem to prevent a fire
that could burn down the building. Social media may make the
Government jittery, but it is the smoke alarm for these times.
Lagos is about to burn to the ground, Mr. Governor. It would be a
good idea to pay attention to the smoke alarm.
The bitter truth, Mr. Governor, is that you and all the
architects of the new law missed the mark on this one. This law and
what it represents is the banana peel that you carelessly tossed on
your way to the 2019 polls. You have slipped on an obstacle of your
own creation, and whether you and your party get up with just a
bruised knee or a multiple-fractured ankle is in the hands of the
people, and only time will tell.
If the Lagos State Government cared about the welfare of its
citizens, dialogue should have taken place before, not after, the
law was passed. Yes, the land use rates have been reduced and the
people have been given an option of paying in instalments and we
are supposed to applaud. But we must still ask a few questions. Who
are the stakeholders that influenced the reduction of the charge?
Why were these stakeholders not consulted in the first place? On
what basis was the charge reduced by 50% or is this some arbitrary
figure that was settled upon to keep the people quiet until 2019?
What is Lagos doing with all the money that it has collected thus
far? It is not enough to reclaim lands from the ocean and make the
rich comfortable; the dividends of good governance and
infrastructure must reach every corner of the state and I know that
I speak for Apapa residents when I say that we are yet to feel the
benefits of living in this “progressive” state. And finally, what
exactly does this reduction in the rate mean? Will there be a
repeal of the law? An amendment? Or is this the case of the rat
that blows soothingly as it bites the skin off your foot? Forgive
me if I am not excited about the governor’s subsequent announcement
on the reduction of the Land Use Charge. With Lagos State being as
opaque as it is, you will understand my apprehension.
Concluded
Read more https://nairalaw.com/the-lagos-land-use-charge-ii/