Lekki Tolling Brouhaha

Lagos State government finally has lifted the embargo placed on lekki expressway toll collection. We recalled that the government has placed an indefinite suspension on toll collection last December to enable it fully engage stakeholders with the purpose to addressing lingering criticisms and issues which has befallen the planned commencement of toll in January of this year.

The toll suspension has incurred the state NGN4billion and the state government has submitted that it could have been use to provide other social amenities.

The state government has further argued that it has lifted the tolling to restore investor’s confidence in economic activities of the state and that property around the toll axis have grown considerable in value.

Opposition groups have described it has unfortunate and that it would engender hardship for residents and indigenes alike. They have been aligning for a showdown as a result of the state government pronouncement.

The challenges around the lekki expressway tolling brouhaha are the double issue of few alternative routes and the government claim of incapacity to deliver such public value.

The lekki expressway tolling is an acid test for the government and other governments with similar plans to employ the public-private partnership (PPP) model in providing social and economic benefits to their citizens.

While the PPP model seems an alternative route to providing scarce capital, utilization of private sector expertise and efficiency models, it suffers greatly from a citizenry who consider this a dereliction, an alien concept and an insult to their sensibilities regarding their inalienable right to enjoy government pursuit of the common good especially with increasing revenues of the state.