What Is The Value Of Generating Trillions In Revenue In Lagos When Lagosians Still Struggle For Water, Basic Amenities?
By
Rahman Owokoniran
Lagos State reportedly generated approximately ₦1.769 trillion in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2025 – an average of about ₦4.85 billion every day.
This is a significant demonstration of Lagos’s economic strength and revenue generating capacity. Yet, it raises a fundamental question about governance, accountability and the value citizens receive from the taxes and levies they pay.
Across Africa, countries such as Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Chad, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia and Lesotho continue to pursue development despite having far smaller economies than Nigeria’s and lesser internally generated revenues than lagos state. Their experiences should challenge the APC-led government to examine why its enormous resources, population, economic potential and revenue opportunities have not translated into better living conditions for millions of its citizens.
The question is not simply how much government generates, but how effectively that money is converted into public services and improved living standards.
How can a country with Nigeria’s resources continue to struggle with unreliable electricity, inadequate public water supply, poor healthcare, unemployment, deteriorating roads and rising poverty?
In Lagos, residents increasingly invest their personal resources in solar panels, inverters, boreholes and alternative sources of basic utilities because the public supply remains inadequate.
Should citizens who spend their hard earned money providing themselves with necessities that public institutions ought to make accessible now face additional financial burdens without first receiving reliable alternatives?
Government regulation is important, but regulation must not become another avenue for burdening struggling households. Where fees or approvals apply, the government must demonstrate transparency, fairness and clear public benefits.
The responsibility of government is not merely to collect revenue. It is to transform public revenue into public value.
Nigerians are not asking for luxury. They are demanding clean water, reliable electricity, functional hospitals, quality education, good roads, security and an economy that gives ordinary people the opportunity to live with dignity.
Revenue generation without visible development is not enough. The true measure of governance is not how much money the government collects, but how much difference that money makes in the lives of the people.
ADC CHIEFTAIN OWOKONIRAN WRITES FROM LAGOS
