For Lagos, for Nigeria

For Lagos, for Nigeria

Sanwo-Olu

• Special status for commercial capital is of benefit to most Nigerians

Lagos State Deputy Governor, who is also the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 governorship election, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has restated the imperative of granting Lagos State a special status in the Nigerian federation. This has been a long-standing issue of public discourse in the country, especially since the return to democracy in1999.

Describing this request as a national economic necessity, Dr Hamzat restated the geo-strategic, economic, environmental, developmental, infrastructural, security and other factors that necessitate conferring such a status on Lagos in the best interest not only of the state but the Nigerian economy as a whole. Before the formal movement of Nigeria’s federal capital territory to Abuja by the General Ibrahim Babangida regime on December 12, 1991, Lagos had played this role for the first three decades of the country’s independence.

Indeed, it was the General Murtala Muhammed regime that had earlier announced and commenced the process of relocating the federal capital to the more centrally located Abuja in 1976.

Despite the emergence of Abuja as the new Federal Capital Territory, Lagos has continued to serve as Nigeria’s commercial capital, financial nerve-centre and industrial hub.

The state has unfortunately had to bear the burden of this responsibility on its own, even in the face of the very heavy additional challenges it faces in diverse spheres, including maintenance of security, provision of social services, management of the environment and urban planning, the complexities of transportation and traffic management, maintaining and continually expanding road, rail and water infrastructure as well as provision of decent and affordable housing for its incessantly growing population.

Although she occupies the smallest geographical area among the country’s 36 states, Lagos is the most heavily populated sub-national jurisdiction in Nigeria with a population estimated at not less than 22 million.

As the country’s most vibrant commercial magnet, Lagos is populated by representatives of virtually all ethnic groups in Nigeria. Her cosmopolitan character and composition makes Lagos a mini-Nigeria to which millions of Nigerians are attracted in the quest for jobs, business and investment opportunities, a high level of security and availability of modern amenities.

It is estimated that at least 6,000 people migrate into Lagos daily, with about 3,000 of these opting to become permanent residents of the state. The huge population necessarily exerts tremendous pressure on public facilities including schools, medical facilities, housing, environmental sanitation, urban planning, public transportation, traffic management, security as well as maintenance, expansion and construction of roads and bridges, among others. This necessarily implies considerable financial commitments on the part of the state government.

Given the pan-Nigerian diversity of its population, Lagos bears a burden that, more than any other state, is national in scope. And the size of its population dwarfs that of similar cosmopolitan cities in other parts of the country. The additional funding that the conferment of the desired special status on Lagos will attract is thus an investment not only for the well-being of Lagos but that of Nigeria as a country.

So critical is Lagos to the vigour and vitality of the national economy that a failed Lagos or a Lagos that functions far beneath its potential ultimately has serious negative implications for national development.

As the country’s economic and commercial capital, the vital place of Lagos in Nigeria’s political economy cannot be overemphasised. The state contributes 22% to 30% of the national GDP, contributes about 50% of Value Added Tax (VAT), handles 70% of national cargo freight and is the highest contributor to both the Education Tax Fund (ETF) and the Petroleum Tax Fund (PTF) that accrue to the Federation Account.

Lagos hosts the country’s national sea ports at Apapa and Tin Can Island, which are pillars of import and export trade, and accounts for between 60% and 70% of total national industrial investment and manufacturing activities.

She is widely regarded as the tech start-up capital of West Africa, hosting strategic innovation hubs attractive to foreign venture capital and which create specialised jobs.

In addition to these, she is the headquarters of Nigeria’s banking and financial industry as well as the key base for the country’s vibrant entertainment, culture and media sectors.

Consequently, the state’s economy provides jobs for millions of Nigerians from all over the country as well as thousands of formal and informal businesses that support its humongous population. All these make the provision of supportive funding for Lagos through a special status recognition an investment of crucial national significance for all Nigerians.

The high vehicular density on Lagos roads, including large numbers of heavy duty trucks and tankers lead to accelerated rate of wear and tear on roads and bridges in the state. The ever- increasing population compounds the problem of traffic congestion necessitating the regular maintenance and expansion of existing roads and bridges, and the construction of new ones.

This also implies regular investment on alternative transportation modes like water and rail facilities.

Another consequence of the huge population is the problem of effective waste management due to an understandably high rate of refuse generation.

Since Lagos is geographically located below sea level, the state is also vulnerable to severe flooding during heavy rainfalls, thus requiring massive investments in drainage channels. A high population concentration also imposes high security risks and challenges demanding substantial investments to safeguard lives and property.

These considerations have motivated the persistent clamour by politicians, public office holders and different stakeholders in Lagos State for the granting of special status to the mega city-state.

As the Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District from 2011 to 2023, the First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, had initiated a legislative bill towards achieving this objective. Successive state governments in Lagos since 1999 have also submitted several memoranda to the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) as well as different constitution review panels requesting the special status for Lagos that would guarantee the state at least one per cent of federal revenues.

These initiatives have not seen the light of day partly for reasons of petty politics as a result of which many people are blind to the benefits to the entire nation of investment in Lagos through the conferment on her of the requisite special status.

Again, there are those who perceive Lagos as already rich and thus not deserving of additional federal financial support. True, Lagos may be financially more buoyant than many other states, but the resources she generates pale into insignificance compared to the developmental challenges she has to confront.

For instance, experts estimate that Lagos faces a considerable infrastructure deficit that needs at least N10 trillion in the first instance to begin to address. This is due to such challenges as rapid population growth, severe traffic congestion, ever increasing problems of refuse disposal and waste management and a housing deficit of 3.3 million housing units, leading to problems of crowded settlements and burgeoning slums lacking basic amenities.

It is instructive that the planned Fourth Mainland Bridge, conceptualised by the administration of Governor Bola Tinubu, which is designed to connect Lagos Island through Lekki and Ikorodu to the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, remains on the drawing board due mainly to funding challenges.

Though impressive achievements, the Red and Blue Light Rail projects only scratch on the surface the huge multimodal transportation needs of Lagos State.

There are those who would argue that the granting of special status to Lagos should be easily accomplished now that a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, is President of Nigeria. But in a complex and ethno-regionally diverse polity like Nigeria, the issue is more complex than that. No efforts should be spared to continue to build national consensus around the indisputable fact that the financial implications of conferring special status on Lagos is a necessary and indispensable investment not only for the benefit of Lagos but for the overall good of Nigeria.