ViewPointNigeria has taken the liberty to reprint a piece authored by Daniel Bot, on simple strategies that the Plateau State Government can deploy to raise the internal generation capacity of the state.

This is one of seven pieces written in the past week – excepts of the other 6 pieces can be found in most Plateau online groups.

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I have been watching closely the developments on the Plateau. It takes courage to be hopeful, considering that federal allocation has reduced by half and IGR hasn’t really improved significantly. But in all this, a thinking government can turn the stumbling blocks to building blocks. The only way out of this situation is for government to supplement its federal allocation with substantial IGR and to reduce waste. Nothing new there. But like Americans say, the devil is in the details. In other words, how can we increase IGR?

All sectors can make significant contribution. Today I will talk about the transport sector, an unlikely source of income: how it can be improved, how it can be a revenue earner, etc.

I am tired of hearing the argument that we must bring more people into the tax net. While I agree that this is a sound strategy, it hasn’t given us the desired impact yet. The government must think outside the box! How about parking charges within the city centre and fining defaulters? How about making VIOs remit to the state what they charge offenders? Do you know the level of corruption in the VIO unit? The head of that organization should be sacked and charged to court for stealing from poor people. How about organizing the motor parks and charging the drivers a daily security fee? Of course more security arrangements will be made in the parks.

And the kabu-kabu business! Can all kabu-kabu operators be made to register with government and also pay a monthly charge? Those who fail to register will be fined. This will not only be a revenue generation drive, but it can help address some of our security concerns. Can’t Plateau Riders be made more efficient? Get the private sector involved. How about traffic offences like driving against traffic? Imagine the revenue the state will make from unruly keke napep riders. Heavy fines would serve as a deterrent. Plus it will make us orderly. How about drivers who run into street light? Shouldn’t they be fined?

For all these to work, we need strict enforcement and monitoring. It’s either the VIOs are rebranded/re-trained to be a sensible organization or a parallel agency be formed (like LASTMA in Lagos or KAROTA in Kano) to carry out the multiple function of making the roads safer, inspecting vehicles, generating revenue, regulating (or eliminating) kabu-kabu operators, quality monitoring, etc. With time, the transport sector would be modernized to look like what they have in other parts of the world, where you can call up a taxi to come and pick you up from home, where you pay transport fare based on distance, not based on your bargaining power (or the lack of it), where you are absolutely sure the cab driver is not a kidnapper or a “one-chance” gang member.

Lastly, a significant proportion of the revenue generated from this sector should be channeled back to the sector. Roads can be maintained, street lights installed, kerbing of pedestrian ways, drainages can be built, traffic lights can be installed/maintained, etc. Even street cleaners can be paid from the proceeds.

Our government has said it has a roadmap for the development of the state. That roadmap should be made public, then it should be reworked to address present day realities. It should be presented to the people (the legislature) for debate and improvement.

Let those in government help the governor to see.