A new report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) has shown that “Agberos”, those boys that stand by the road at every nook and cranny of Lagos, are said to have generated about N123 billion annually. This raises the question as to whom the money is remitted to. Indication are that the money does not go to the purse of Lagos state or to the Local government. If the money were remitted to the state official it could assist in provision of amenities to the communities. Whispers have it that some part of the money is daily remitted to a highly placed politician in the state. Analyst say these boys have constituted thyself to a government within a government and are exploiting the residents in the state.
These ‘Agberos’ in Lagos generate an estimated annual revenue of N123.078 billion amassed from daily road use unofficial taxes levied on bus drivers, tricycle riders and motorcycle operators in the state. According to the report each commercial vehicle driver pays daily at least N3,000 to Agberos as ticket fee. There are an estimated 75,000 commercial buses operating in Lagos, according to the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the estimated daily total collection amount to N225 million while estimated monthly total collection records N6.75 billion. In the same vein estimated yearly total collection about N82.125 billion for buses. In the case of levies on Tricycle operators (keke napep); each keke napep rider pays at least N1,800 to Agberos per day and there are an estimated 50,000 tricycles operating in Lagos, according to Techcabal. As a result the calculation is that an estimated daily total collection from tricycle amounts to N90 million while estimated monthly total collection stands at N2.7 billion leaving the estimated yearly total collection to stand at N32.85 billion.
According to the report levies on motorcycle operators (okada) indicate that each okada rider pays at least N600 to Agberos per day and that there are an estimated 37,000 okada riders operating in Lagos, according to Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State (MOALS). It is estimated that the daily total collection is about N22.2 million while estimated monthly total collection hovers around N666 million. The total annual revenue from the three major modes of transport in Lagos state amounts to N123.078 billion. This excludes money collected from vehicles carry goods across the state that are also made to part some reasonable amount of money on daily basis. These include tippers, heavy duty trucks etc.
The ICIR report admitted that these figures may yet be underestimated as daily levies on the transporters are much higher in some parts of Lagos including Mushin, Isolo, Itire/Ikate among others. Nigerian states with the highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2020. Lagos State recorded the highest Internally Generated Revenue of N418.99 billion, accounting for 32.1% of the total, closely followed by Rivers State with N117.19 billion. Other states with the highest IGR in 2020 include Abuja (N92.06 billion), Delta (N59.73 billion), Kaduna (N50.75 billion), Ogun (N50.75 billion), and Oyo State (N38.04 billion).
