Special Status Bill… Unending quest for resource control, true federalism

Twenty-five years after its creation; decades during which it grew into becoming Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and Africa’s fifth largest economy, Lagos, paradoxically, has been reduced almost to begging for just one per cent of revenue accruable to the Federal Government, to address its infrastructural decay. ONE PER CENT! Despite the meagreness of the demand, the request is being shot at again and again by political shortsightedness. With the current economic recession, however, opponents of the proposal may soon realise the nation, rather than Lagos State, is the greater loser.

Lagos was at the centre of polemics nationally recently when the Special Status Bill for Lagos State was shut down at the Senate. The manner the bill, meant to provide Lagos with one percent of the revenue accruable to the Federal Government, was vehemently rejected, resulting a rancorous session made it a topic for discussion outside the Senate.

Though it was not the first time, the bill would be finding its way to the Senate but unlike the first time, it was able to scale through the committee stage to the floor of the Senate.

Those who are calling for a Special Status funding for Lagos premised their argument on the fact that there are too many pressures on infrastructure in Lagos largely due to not just the population, but the federal government not adequately servicing its assets in the state. And some of these assets are money-spinner for the Federal Government.

For instance, the ports, whether sea or air, generate huge sum of money for the federal government, yet, the roads that lead to them, let alone the ones that service the lead road, are left unattended to adequately, having ripple negative effect on other infrastructures within the state.

And because Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, it has continued to attract Nigerians from across cities and towns of the country, resulting in huge inflow of persons on a daily basis, with a good chunk targeting Lagos as their abode. To the promoters of the one per cent special fund, it would help the state to stay afloat and continue to be a commercial hub not only for Nigeria but Africa with the multiplier effect on Nigeria’s economy.

They draw their inspiration from the fact that though United States of America, Brazil and Germany relocated their capital, the former capital cities never suffer neglect the way Lagos is neglected by the Federal Government.

While introducing the Bill on the floor of the Senate, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, had argued that Lagos with strategic socio-economic significance and statistics showing that 6 of 10 international passengers arrive in it and 8 of 10 travellers depart from it, cannot be left alone to carry the burden.

Relying on a report from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2008, she said that 86.2 per cent of companies’ income taxes and 56.7 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) were collected in Lagos.

“Key sectors of the economy namely: manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, financial institutions and insurance are domiciled in Lagos. Lagos also plays a major role as host to sporting, entertainment and cultural events. It is also the home of hospitality given the numerous hotels and restaurants located within the state.

“Compared with the rest of the country, Lagos has the smallest landmass of about 3,671square kilometers in Nigeria and the highest population density of about 2,649 persons per square kilometre. Although the National Population Census, according to its 2006 census, named Lagos the second most populous state in Nigeria, evidence shows that the state is also the transit state which plays host to millions of indigenes of other states in Nigeria who commute to Lagos for commercial transactions on a daily basis,” she added. With all these, she felt strongly that Lagos deserves a special funding status.

With the some of the points and arguments pushed forward by Tinubu on why Lagos should be considered for the Special Status Funding, it brings to the fore the misnomer of the state generating the revenue and the federal government spending it on its behalf.

When some senators on an oversight function in Lagos during the week stopped by at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode used that opportunity to appeal to the Senate to revisit the Special Status Bill. He argued that the passage of the bill would translate to economic prosperity and well-being of Nigeria.

“Lagos being a cosmopolitan city and the economic capital of Nigeria must be assisted by the Federal Government to address infrastructure challenges confronting it.”

Ambode said that Lagos is home to every tribe in the country, and the passage of the bill by Senators should be viewed from the point of its importance to the country, and not just to Lagos.

He said: “Come December 12, 2016, it will be 25 years that the capital of Nigeria was moved from Lagos to Abuja. So, 25 years after, this is where we are. I welcome wholeheartedly when Senator Sani Yerima said anything that Lagos needs; the Senate will support us.

“So, I like to use this platform firstly to say a big thank you to the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President for allowing us to table our one percent special status because we have been struggling to put that up in the seventh Assembly, it was not done but it was through this eight Assembly that it was actually tabled and so we thank them for that.

“If we have about twelve Senators here and we are looking for two-third, we are saying here that it would not be out of place to revisit our appeal and our bill. Lagos is thoroughly cosmopolitan; it is a mini-Nigeria and then the wellbeing of Lagos is the total wellbeing of Nigeria and everybody has a stake here in Lagos and as a government, we have continually addressed the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos in a way that is suitable and comfortable for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, creed or religion,” he said.

While clarifying the essence of the bill, the Governor said it only seeks one percent special allocation from the revenue accruable to the Federal Government, adding: “If we are able to do that, you can imagine what we would have done 25 years ago based on the understanding of gentlemen that Lagos would not be left behind or forgotten.

“So, that is the platform we want you to try and help us to have a re-look, a re-think and then think more of Nigeria in the bill rather than of Lagos because that is what that one per cent assistance will address and then tends to create the image of the kind of commercial capital we want Lagos to be.”

For a prince of Lagos Island, Sheikh Mansur Williams and many like him, who grew up in Lagos, the city was like London and Paris of today. He noted that over time, Lagos failed to grow and measure up like these cities because government especially military governments failed to plan for the mass inflow of people into the state. He claimed that Lagos started finding itself at a crossroad when non-indigene military administrators, who had no knowledge of Lagos in its early days and had not experienced Lagos in its formative years, became governors of the state.

“So when they came in, to them, Lagos looked like an Eldorado, the best of anything they can think of, but they forget that Lagos got to that level through the first military governor, Mobolaji Johnson, who with others put heads together to have development blueprint for the city.

“What Lagos is today is the blue print of Johnson and some other persons, except that Jakande updated some of the plans. Lagos is far, far below its level of development. And Mobolaji Johnson and co saw the possibility of Lagos turning into a megacity, but most of the military administrators did not.”

Williams noted that though the population of Lagos is estimated to be about 20 million, it can’t be less than 25 million, yet there was no development plan to cater for the population growth and the daily in-flock of persons by these military administrators.

“Lagos is like an estate where you have a lot of people; you need appropriate infrastructure to cope with the situation.”

He insisted that with the huge infrastructure deficit in the city and for it to cope with the huge population and provide succor to Nigerians, Lagos needs more funding and resources, and this funding cannot drop from heaven. He further stated that if nothing is done to raise the bar of infrastructure in Lagos, the city would eventually become a big slum. “So, Lagos needs to be well funded, having in mind that Lagos is Nigeria; Lagos is Africa.”

On the argument that Lagos needs not opt for special funding but that the Federal Government should do the needful by maintaining its assets and facilities in Lagos, Williams said that a coin is a coin, and a coin would have to be spent by just a person. He further said that the governor is in a better position to know where it hurts, so he understands better the infrastructure needs of the state.

“Lagos accommodates the largest seaports, open to the most economic viable border and airport in Nigeria. The haulage system has completely failed us, as the train services are not there. And when you look at all these, Lagos deserves a special fund, not only a special fund this time around, but emergency infrastructure development fund, which should be a product of collaboration between the federal and state governments, due to the huge infrastructure deficit in the state.

“Lagos should be given a special attention, as we cannot allow Lagos to fail because if Lagos fails, Nigeria would likely go under completely. So, it is the duty of all of us to help Lagos to work and function better for the good of all Nigerians.”

Before the idea of a special status funding came into the lexicon, the agitation was for true and fiscal federalism. Though those who were vehemently campaigning for true and fiscal federalism, especially in the South West, did that as members of the opposition party.

To some observers, knowing that achieving the goal of true federalism would be quite a donkey task gave birth to the idea of introducing special status for Lagos in the seventh Assembly.

With the bulk of those campaigning for fiscal federalism, who were in opposition then, but now in government, the expectation would have been that the narrative would be a return to the call for true federalism instead of demanding for special status funding.

An activist and former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba SAN noted that though Lagos having a special status is key, but it is not the solution to resolve Nigeria’s fragile political situation.

According to Agbakoba, what Nigeria really needs is a rebalanced federation where regions control their destiny and do not need Abuja handout in the nature of special status for Lagos.

He argued that a free Lagos, as Africa’s fifth largest economy, needs space to realize its potentials.

Also, commenting on the special status funding for Lagos during the week, former Governor of Zamfara State, Sanni Yerima said that Lagos is not only for Lagosians, because from the time it was the national capital till this moment, people from all states of the federation are living and found doing business in Lagos.

“So, anything we do for Lagos, we are not doing it for Lagos alone. We are doing it for a mini Nigeria. By the grace of God, we are going to look at it again. Bills and motions at the National Assembly are not taken up once, they can continue to be represented until such a time that the senators feel it is time to consider it. And I believe it is now time for us to reconsider that bill.”

When he was asked why the bill was rejected by his colleagues since the concept of Lagos being seen and described as a mini Nigeria is not new to him and his colleagues, he said, “The things that happened in the National Assembly are determined by so many factors, but I am assuring you that with the appeal by the Lagos State Governor, things would be different when we get there.”

Similarly, Senator Binta Masi Garba, from Adamawa State, said that with what she and her colleagues saw during their oversight function in Lagos, though there are agitations that there are other regional headquarters that the Federal Government needs to look into, starting with Lagos is not a bad idea.

“Lagos is a mini Nigeria where every one who has a dream feels it is the point to actualize it. So, we cannot say no to the bill.”

Garba said that with the level of works being done by the state governor, it shows that once Lagos is given that one per cent, it would go a long way in enhancing the pride of Nigeria, anywhere Nigerians go to outside this country.

Though when the Bill was introduced on the floor of the Senate, it was supported by the two senators from Lagos – Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) and Solomon Olamilekan (Lagos West) as well as Fatimat Raji-Rasaki and Barnabas Gemade (Benue North-west) – a larger number of senators opposed resulting in a rancorous session that forced the Deputy Senate President that presided over the sitting to stand up and appeal to his colleagues for calm.

The rancor that followed the Bill would have been averted if Senator Olusola Adeyeye (APC, Osun State) had not referred to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, as “a rotten and over-pampered baby.”

This probably infuriated the senators to act against the bill. Until he withdrew his statement, calm did not return to the floor of the senate. It is hoped that lessons had been learnt and that there would not be a repeat of careless statements when the bill is being re-introduced.