Property owners in Ikoyi, Lagos – a gateway to the biggest job creation zone in Nigeria and home to Africa’s most valued real estate businesses – have been enjoined to pay their Land Use Charge (LUC) regularly to enable massive infrastructural development in the state.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave this appeal, at the weekend, during the commissioning of network of roads namely: Thompson Avenue, Milverton Road, Macdonald and Lateef Jakande Road, all in Ikoyi, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos State.
“I appeal to citizens to pay their Land Use Charge. It will make us to do more for our citizens. Property owners should see themselves as partners in progress.”
According to experts at bomesresourcesconsulting.com, Land Use Charge combines all property and land-based rates and charges payable under Lands Rates, Neighborhood Improvement Charge, and Tenement Rates Laws of Lagos State. The legal backing is the Lagos State Land Use Charge Law (2020), while a property owner is liable to pay LUC on taxable property.
The governor pointed out that the inauguration of the upgraded/ rehabilitated roads in Ikoyi was part of efforts to regenerate roads across the state.
Due to the economic importance of Ikoyi as a real estate hub, Sanwo-Olu said his government embarked on infrastructural renewal and upgrade/rehabilitation of the roads and drainage projects within the axis in July, 2020.
According to him, the inauguration reflected the determination of government to provide good infrastructure delivery to improve the living condition of residents.
Going down the memory lane, Sanwo-Olu said: At the inception of our administration, we conducted an audit of the road infrastructure in Lagos State because we know that roads are the critical infrastructure on which almost all other activities depend. We were mindful of the fact that improved access across the state would lead to increased productivity.
“The report of this audit revealed that many of the roads in our urban centers needed to be upgraded and this explained the slow vehicular and sometimes slow pedestrian movement being experienced by the people.
“The resultant effect was a loss of man-hours and a slowdown of the economy. This was totally unacceptable and inimical to our Greater Lagos and 21st Century Economy Vision.”
After establishing the attendant impact of the state of the road infrastructure on business/commercial activities as well as the welfare and productivity of the people, Sanwo-Olu explained that his government embarked on extensive palliative works, upgrading and in some instances, reconstruction of strategic roads across the five divisions of the state.
In consideration of the economic importance of Ikoyi as the real estate hub of Lagos and to address the perennial flooding issues peculiar to the axis, the governor said his administration flagged off a regeneration initiative comprising infrastructural renewal and upgrade/rehabilitation of road and drainage projects in July, 2020.
Apart from addressing perennial flooding, he said the initiative was targeted at re-engineering the designated roads to improve traffic flow and network efficiency.
“Today, the completion and formal commissioning of these rehabilitated and upgraded roads (Lateef Jakande/MacDonald, Milverton and Thompson Avenue) is a testament to our determination to keep improving the living conditions of our people through well-thought-out policies and programmes,’ Sanwo-Olu said.
He added that the administration is cognizant of the fact that strategic investment in infrastructure is the foundation for long-term growth, adding that the provision of adequate road infrastructure would generate a strong economic base for improved productivity and standard of living.
He also announced the flag-off of three major roads; Cooper, McPherson and Queens Drive.
Special Adviser to the governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, said the roads, with a combined length of 3,747 metres, linked emerging estates within the axis.
She said the rehabilitation of roads in Ikoyi was strategic because it addressed gridlock, flooding and interconnectivity to other major roads in the area.
“I have no doubt that these road projects hold considerable socioeconomic benefits for residents and those working in Ikoyi,” she said.
She said the construction included relocation of services, replacement of trees and lawns, construction of drains with cover slabs to serve as walkway, interlocking stones, among others.
The lawmaker representing Eti-Osa II Constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Gbolahan Yishau, thanked the governor for embarking on the project.
Yishau, who represented the Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, expressed delight that the governor was committed to the regeneration of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and other GRAs in the state and assured that the infrastructure would be properly maintained.
Mr Wale Edun, a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council, who is a resident of Ikoyi, said all the roads were bad and flooded until the government stepped in to change the story.
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