Local Govts beyond oil: Oredo LG. OIL has since become the mainstay of our economy. But oil is a depleting asset, which means that someday oil wells will dry up. Besides, the entire world is busy seeking alternatives to oil. Essentially, oil will not remain on the king’s throne much longer. Our desire is that oil boom should not degenerateto oil doom. This has started engaging the minds of many Nigerians. In their proactive stance, when the media gurus, the Guild of Editors, gathered in Asaba recently, this issue occupied the front burner in their discussions. So far, it appears our third tier of government is shut out in the entire process. This tier is everywhere in chains, with various encumbrances on the way of its alternative revenue sources. Acceptably, tax evasion is a crime while tax avoidance remains a normal practice the world over. When the oil wells dry up, local governments must look inwards and the collection of market stalls- and other fees must be reinvigorated. Recently, we saw in Oredo Local Government, what traders are doing about payment of market fees. Their grand design is to wait till Revenue Collectors have closed from work. This is when the traders start their businesses, all in an attempt to evade payment of dues. When the tax collectors changed their methods and moved in at night to collect the dues, a storm of indignation burst forth. The traders alleged that council officials came to the market at night to beat them up. The fact is that laws are made to regulate certain activities throughout the 24 hours of the day, not just during office hours. The Oredo Local Government Edict that prohibits trading in certain designated areas must also be obeyed around the clock. Where such areas become beseeched after office hours, Oredo Local Government would be right to start implementing its laws and apprehending offenders throughout the night, if need be. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary handling. Most markets are now night markets. For example, on Oregbeni Market days, the big transactions take place between the hours of 4am and 6am. That is when the big traders from the various villages dispose off all their wares with the result that when the revenue collectors arrive at 9 a.m., all they meet are the small retailers who pay paltry sums as market dues. We hear that this is what goes on in virtually all the major markets. If the local governments must survive beyond oil, they must also change their modus operandi along with changing times. Certain issues are, by nature, on the concurrent performance list. The regulation of transportation is one such issue: In Edo State for instance, the Federal Government, as represented by the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, is to be seen everywhere on the Federal highways. Their towing vans come handy to deal with defaulters. As soon as you move into Benin City, the State Traffic Officers (also known as Oshiomhole Police) are everywhere to ensure that traffic moves smoothly. In the process, they have their towing vans to deal with vehicles that cause obstructions. The same constitution that allows the federal and state authorities to operate within their jurisdictions also permits the local governments to do the same in their domains. Some of them have gone ahead to acquire towing vans to deal with defaulters. Rather than continue to muzzle the local government administrations, the states should learn to sit down with them to streamline areas where each should operate. It is a free world in which survival is the name of the game. No tier should be deprived of its dues. When it concerns the local governments, the performance of their functions has commonly been defined as harassment. This is where we advise that any motorist who does not want to be harassed should learn to live within the laws. On the other hand, let the collections be with a human face. The crude age of pursuing motorists, particularly drivers of vehicles with out-of-state numbers, with sticks fitted with six-inch nails is over. What is all this hue and cry on the recent purported removal of minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative List? This gives the erroneous impression that exclusivity is synonymous with universality of application. That the minimum wage is on the Exclusive Legislative List means that only the National Assembly can legislate on it. It does not mean that the minimum wage must be the same for all the segmentsthroughout the country. Whereas the National Assembly can, for example, make the minimum wage N100, 000 at the federal level and N50, 000 for the two other tiers, it has perhaps been browbeaten into thinking that the minimum wage must be the same everywhere. Apart from placing a big burden on the National Assembly, this apparently short-changes the staff of federal establishments. The National Assembly must now struggle to create a balance between the salaries of that worker in Abuja with that of the one who works at Uwemuwe, a small hamlet in one obscure corner of Edo State. While the Abuja worker spends his entire salary on housing and transportation, every Uwemuwe person would feel honoured if the government worker accepts to stay in his house, even free of charge; plus the fact that this worker can also have his small-small cassava farm, which facility is unavailable to the worker in Abuja. As we approach the post-oil era, shouldn’t we allow the local governments to determine how much salary they can pay to their workers rather than suffocating them and breathing over their heads from Abuja? Beyond this, there is no truth. As we speak, some states have not implemented the N18,000 minimum wage. And rightly, the governors of such states have neither been beheaded nor thrown into prison as a result. Shall we not recall Karl Marx (1818-1883) in the Communist manifesto: “From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs?”
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:33:43 +0000
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