It is with deep anger and total condemnation that we received the news of the proposed taxes and levies on the construction of boreholes in private houses in Lagos State.
A government that has failed to provide portable water for its citizens now wants to tax the citizens for providing water for themselves. What height of insensitivity? What height of anti-people policy?
This is not governance. This is extortion. This is punishment for surviving government failure.
THE JAKANDE ERA: WHEN GOVERNMENT WAS FOR THE PEOPLE
For those of us old enough to remember, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande remains the best Governor Lagos has ever had since creation, and arguably the best this State will ever have.
Jakande governed Lagos from 1979 to 1983 – just four years and three months. Yet what he achieved with little money and little tax has remained unmatched 43 years after.
Let history record it:
In Education: Jakande built thousands of new primary and secondary schools. He made education free at all levels. He abolished the shift system and gave our children quality education and free books.
In Health: He built General Hospitals in every zone of Lagos – Alimosho, Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, and others. Healthcare was free and accessible.
In Housing: Jakande built over 30,000 low-cost housing units in Abesan, Ijaiye, Dolphin, Iponri, Amuwo Odofin, Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and everywhere. Houses for the poor, not for the rich alone.
In Transportation: He brought Lagos Metroline project, established Lagos State Transport Corporation with hundreds of buses.
In Security and Welfare: He governed with human face. Everything was free or highly subsidized, yet he never taxed Lagosians to death.
Jakande achieved all these with a small budget and without imposing heavy taxes. He proved that good governance is about heart, not about exploiting the people.
Compare Jakande’s four years with any democratic government that came after him from 1999 till date – none has come close. None has shown that level of sincerity, vision and people-centered leadership. The gap between Jakande and all of them is the gap between heaven and earth.
THIS CURRENT ADMINISTRATION: THE WORST IN LAGOS HISTORY
What we have today in Lagos is the worst administration in the history of the State since 1979.
Almost nothing is free. Everything is taxed.
Education is not free. Health care is expensive. Housing is for the highest bidder. Transportation is chaotic and costly. Yet every day, new taxes are invented:
Land Use Charge increased by over 300%.
Tenement rates.
Parking levies.
Radio and TV levies for shops.
Huge levies on artisans and market women.
And now, the most heartless of them all – BOREHOLE TAX.
Lagos State Government has failed woefully to provide pipe-borne water. In Ikorodu, in Badagry, in Epe, in Alimosho, citizens buy water daily. People dig boreholes with their hard-earned money, with no support from government, to get water to bathe, cook and drink. And this same government wants to come and collect tax on that borehole?
This is not only anti-people, it is wicked, provocative and condemnable.
How can you tax a citizen for performing your duty for you?
I strongly support Prince Kehinde Oyefusi and all lovers of Lagos State call on the Lagos State House of Assembly to reject this proposed borehole levy in its entirety. We call on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to immediately withdraw this obnoxious proposal.
Lagos does not need more taxes. Lagos needs another Jakande – a leader who will give water, give schools, give houses, give hospitals, and not a leader who taxes even the water we dig ourselves.
Enough is Enough. Water is life. Water is not for taxation.
Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande lived for the people. This government lives off the people.
Signed
Prince Adeyinka Aroyewun
070 39111476
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