AUTHOR: ADMIN | DATE: MAY 2019

(Imagine if you could get a refund for fixing your road? Now here’s an idea)

Often, our municipal facilities are left in a state of complete disrepair. Some roads in Lagos are completely run-down and impassable to all manner of vehicles. We pay our taxes on time, and are often incensed by what some may deem as the complete disregard to the plight of some Lagosians. More often than not, when complaints are made, citizens are left waiting for an unacceptable length of time before repair works are carried out.

The main problem is how we go about tackling problems: firstly, we ought to table our gripes as an incensed community, and not disgruntled individuals; and secondly, we fail to hold our public officers accountable, and we ought to. If there is no accountability – if the public officers remain faceless and anonymous to their constituents – then they may feel under no obligation to perform their duties.

Lagosians largely provide their own, security, water and electricity, all this on top of paying government taxes. Why should we not be able to repair our own roads as well? Why should we not be able to provide street lights and repair poor drains? And if we pay taxes for these services to be carried out, should we not be refunded when we have to carry out these repair works ourselves when the government is slow to perform?

If we adopt the mindset that we live in a very complicated city, then we must also accept that the solutions to our problems will sometimes be peculiar. And hence, waiting for the government (already swamped with a vast amount of obligations) to come round and put right potholes and damaged streetlights may not be the most efficient way of doing things.

Below, we proffer a solution whereby individuals come together in their community groups, carry out repair works, and then get rebated for these works by the government.

Step 1:  Community groups rally round and identify damaged facilities, e.g. poor roads, street lights, block drains e.t.c

Step 2: They approach the Local (or State) Government with these findings

Step 3:  The Government sends out a representative with the community group to view and agree upon the extent of the proposed works.

Step 4:  The Government may not be able to fund these projects right away, and would need to grant the Community Group a Right To Execute said project. This will be in the form of a deed, stating exactly the extent of the works to be carried out, and what easements the community group have over the government property.

Step 5:  The Community Group raises the funds through donations from its members, and then engages a contractor (after a competitive tender process) from a list of approved government contractors. It is presumed that the government will have a list of vetted contractors who carry out works as and when necessary.

Step 6:  The Government sends out a representative with the community group to view and agree upon whether the works have been suitably completed.

Step 7:  All registered contributors within the community group (who ought to have been previously listed) are subsequently granted tax rebates on a pro-rata basis of the amounts they contributed towards the repair works.