NewStats: 3,263,233 , 8,179,470 topics. Date: Thursday, 05 June 2025 at 07:26 AM 1q5a5g

This should not be turned to a Yoruba Igbo word exchange.please
I am neither Yoruba nor Igbo.
I was born and grew up in Lagos.

I was born in a federal estate were there was pipeborne water to our houses.in the late 90s it stopped and never came again.

This was a federal estate so it is also an issue with the federal government not just a LAGOS problem.

I did uni in a northern state,you wouldn't believe there was pipeborne water to almost all communities in the state,even in very rural areas.but a state like Lagos and almost all southern states this is non existent.

Why can't Lagos create a simple cost efficient system to address the basic needs of the state.
Instead of just going for gigantic projects all the time,building bridges and fly overs and the train which is sinking a lot of money.

Simple projects like standard well built community roads(the inner roads in Lagos are terrible)

Pipeborne water schemes
Refuse collection schemes and drainage management schemes
Community housing( low cost houses) probably high rise buildings that wudnt occupy land space.
Better cheap markets stalls instead of traders selling on the roadsides.

LAGOS rural communities are suffering terribly,this was what inspired my previous thread of the West neglecting their rural communities.

Even though local government are not working it doesn't stop the state from taking over these responsibilities.

Nigerian unitary federal system is not good but governments shouldn't bind themselves from taking responsibility.

Just like Samuel ortom watched his people being massacred and keeps calling on buhari all in the name of security is federal responsibility instead of taking responsibility and protecting his people.

North have an unfair share of federal amenities... That has always been the case

Do you guys in Lagos and any other city pay the same kind of taxes and water bills as do the foreign countries you ire?

The simple reason why you don't have all them goodies is, in addition to the corruption, the money really is not enough (And no, I am not excusing bad leadership, or saying Buhari is a great man, a new Ghandi).

Our budget is about $30 billion per annum. Many of the countries that have all those goodies have higher budgets (Spain spends over 100 billion on health alone).

If you want good city services, good water and good light...then pay the kind of taxes and bills they pay abroad for those servicies. Because the amount we earn from oil is not enough even if we were ten million. And let;s not just vote...let us do more then vote.

And remove subsides on power and petrol. These subsides are a big part of our problem. As cost of producing power and petrrol rises, so does the subsides that need to be paid...and these subsides in turn eat out more of our budget...

Also, let us stop thinking that economic development comes from selling raw materials, and so forth. It comes from using those raw materials for something.

padi94:
North have an unfair share of federal amenities... That has always been the case

LOL...I have lived in the North. They have the same issues as the South.

Like the Northern town where i did university. Between January and April they have water scarcity well well.

Also, there are plenty if not large swathes of the North that have seen not a lick of light or potable water supply since independence.

Even good roads....for where.

Northern cities have the same power supply issues...as well.

Let us even not talk about security.

When the landlord of the state collects 10% tax revenue through Alpha Beta how will they have all those amenities you mentioned

Subsidywise20:
Do you guys in Lagos and any other city pay the same kind of taxes and water bills as do the foreign countries you ire?

The simple reason why you don't have all them goodies is, in addition to the corruption, the money really is not enough (And no, I am not excusing bad leadership, or saying Buhari is a great man, a new Ghandi).

Our budget is about $30 billion per annum. Many of the countries that have all those goodies have higher budgets (Spain spends over 100 billion on health alone).

If you want good city services, good water and good light...then pay the kind of taxes and bills they pay abroad for those servicies. Because the amount we earn from oil is not enough even if we were ten million. And let;s not just vote...let us do more then vote.

And remove subsides on power and petrol. These subsides are a big part of our problem. As cost of producing power and petrrol rises, so does the subsides that need to be paid...and these subsides in turn eat out more of our budget...

Also, let us stop thinking that economic development comes from selling raw materials, and so forth. It comes from using those raw materials for something.

You can't pay tax for what's not working fix those thing and people will be glad to pay for it let's take light for instance if someone can use 10k to buy fuel for his generator monthly give the person 24hrs uninterrupted light charge the person 5 to 6k for light monthly the person will pay without complaining.
I pay 3000naira equivalent monthly for Water bill am talking of two rooms self contain with two washroom I pay it without complaining cuz there's 24hrs water to use. But when the water is not coming don't expect me to pay for the water bill smiling.

Subsidywise20:
Do you guys in Lagos and any other city pay the same kind of taxes and water bills as do the foreign countries you ire?

The simple reason why you don't have all them goodies is, in addition to the corruption, the money really is not enough (And no, I am not excusing bad leadership, or saying Buhari is a great man, a new Ghandi).

Our budget is about $30 billion per annum. Many of the countries that have all those goodies have higher budgets (Spain spends over 100 billion on health alone).

If you want good city services, good water and good light...then pay the kind of taxes and bills they pay abroad for those servicies. Because the amount we earn from oil is not enough even if we were ten million. And let;s not just vote...let us do more then vote.

And remove subsides on power and petrol. These subsides are a big part of our problem. As cost of producing power and petrrol rises, so does the subsides that need to be paid...and these subsides in turn eat out more of our budget...

Also, let us stop thinking that economic development comes from selling raw materials, and so forth. It comes from using those raw materials for something.

LAGOS has money to build the blue line light rail and several expensive bridges they even talking of 4th mainland bridge,what am saying is why can't these funds be used even if to borrow be used for more community development projects instead of more costly ego boosting projects

Babaken:
You can't pay tax for what's not working fix those thing and people will be glad to pay for it let's take light for instance if someone can use 10k to buy fuel for his generator monthly give the person 24hrs uninterrupted light charge the person 5 to 6k for light monthly the person will pay without complaining.
I pay 3000naira equivalent monthly for Water bill am talking of two rooms self contain with two washroom I pay it without complaining cuz there's 24hrs water to use. But when the water is not coming don't expect me to pay for the water bill smiling.

1.The reason why the power companies cannot give us 24 hour light is because the government sabotages them by setting their prices, and a lot of Nigerians sabotage them by not paying.

When you don't pay the power sector the money they need, where are they going to get the money to fix up things so that they can have light.? (If they take loan, you folks would complain too).

GSM, when it started in Nigeria cost a lot of money, and service in the begining was bad. At one point one could not call between networks, could not call NITEL lines, and as for internet...zero, and when it came initially it was gprs which was not very good. But we paid despite the poor service, and they used the money to make their service better to the point that I can type this from my house (instead of paying N100-200 naira in 2003 for two hours or more browsing...and that was alot of money back then.)

2.Same thing with water. Ye pay N3000 a month. In the UK it is on average N17000 a month. That's why they have better water supply than you do. Yet you want N17000 WATER SUPPLY for just N3000? Is that reasonable?

I know...I talk too much on money. But good stuff costs money. Maintaining good stuff costs money. Lots of it.

babasolution:


LAGOS has money to build the blue line light rail and several expensive bridges they even talking of 4th mainland bridge,what am saying is why can't these funds be used even if to borrow be used for more community development projects instead of more costly ego boosting projects

That's the problem...Lagos does not have enough money to build enough good stuff...and even that blue and red light rail is really 1) inadequate 2) is taking centuries to complete....because....money. (AND they borrow too for those things.).

You want the kind of stuff they have abroad...well, we can do what they do in the UK...charge every house 150 to 200 pounds or at least 75000 naira.per month...as council tax. On top of income tax. Yas, money, but at the end, Lagos would have enough cash to do more than the light rail and a few bridges.

Good things cost money. Nigeria right now earns the kind of money that can sustain a nation of just 3 million people.

Which of the listed did your home state have?

helinues:
Which of the listed did your home state have?

Subsidywise20:


That's the problem...Lagos does not have enough money to build enough good stuff...and even that blue and red light rail is really 1) inadequate 2) is taking centuries to complete....because....money. (AND they borrow too for those things.).

You want the kind of stuff they have abroad...well, we can do what they do in the UK...charge every house 150 to 200 pounds or at least 75000 naira....as council tax. On top of income tax. Yas, money, but at the end, Lagos would have enough cash to do more than the light rail and a few bridges.

Good things cost money. Nigeria right now earns the kind of money that can sustain a nation of just 3 million people.

Yet,when the governor of Lagos went to epe yesterday to launch projects of market stall and recreational centre built by a lawmaker he went with an helicopter and you said there's no money,do you know how much it makes to maintain those helicopter he uses,why cudnt he drive,simply cos the roads are terrible,and how cud an ordinary law maker build market stalls but you say the state government doesn't have money to,this things are simple things that doesn't cost lots of money as you think,do you know how much people already pay for daily transport through bad roads,if the community roads are well built and people have to pay some token for it people will pay,transportation cost and maintenance of vehicles is already costing people far more than the so called council tax you talking about.if people see the efforts of the government they will cooperate,but people are not seeing it,government waste a lot of money on failed elephant projects like the light blue rail project.

babasolution:


Yet,when the governor of Lagos went to epe yesterday to launch projects of market stall and recreational centre built by a lawmaker he went with an helicopter and you said there's no money,do you know how much it makes to maintain those helicopter

The state prolly does not own the helicopter.

Plus what they pay for the helicopter cannot be used to help Lagos much. Lagos needs more money than that. Much more.

he uses,why cudnt he drive,simply cos the roads are terrible,and how cud an ordinary law maker build market stalls but you say the state government doesn't have money to,this things are simple things that doesn't cost lots of money as you think,do you know how much people already pay for daily transport through bad roads,if the community roads are well built and people have to pay some token for it people will pay,transportation cost and maintenance of vehicles is already costing people far more than the so called council tax you talking about.if people see the efforts of the government they will cooperate,but people are not seeing it,government waste a lot of money on failed elephant projects like the light blue rail project.

Well, if they bring back tolls on the road, like they do in South Africa, and parking meters...Nigerians will complain.

Good things cost money. And Nigeria needs a lot more money than the pittance we earn. If yer governor is good at raising money..and it seems he isn't...then he needs to improve.

Subsidywise20:


1.The reason why the power companies cannot give us 24 hour light is because the government sabotages them by setting their prices, and a lot of Nigerians sabotage them by not paying.

When you don't pay the power sector the money they need, where are they going to get the money to fix up things so that they can have light.? (If they take loan, you folks would complain too).

GSM, when it started in Nigeria cost a lot of money, and service in the begining was bad. At one point one could not call between networks, could not call NITEL lines, and as for internet...zero, and when it came initially it was gprs which was not very good. But we paid despite the poor service, and they used the money to make their service better to the point that I can type this from my house (instead of paying N100-200 naira in 2003 for two hours or more browsing...and that was alot of money back then.)

2.Same thing with water. Ye pay N3000 a month. In the UK it is on average N17000 a month. That's why they have better water supply than you do. Yet you want N17000 WATER SUPPLY for just N3000? Is that reasonable?

I know...I talk too much on money. But good stuff costs money. Maintaining good stuff costs money. Lots of it.

The internet,gsm thing was as a result of improvement of technology which made things cheaper , quicker and more efficient,not because they had money to improve services,it was improved technology that made things better not improved service ,if the technology didn't improve very quick we would still be paying high prices for those things

babasolution:


The internet,gsm thing was as a result of improvement of technology which made things cheaper , quicker and more efficient,not because they had money to improve services,it was improved technology that made things better not improved service ,if the technology didn't improve very quick we would still be paying high prices for those things

And they had money to improve services because government was not telling them how much they should charge for internet and phone calls and SIM.

If they were, we would still be relying on internet cafe for all our internet needs, and we won't be able to call between networks , and service would still be poor and restricted to a few urban centers.

Subsidywise20:


The state prolly does not own the helicopter.

Plus what they pay for the helicopter cannot be used to help Lagos much. Lagos needs more money than that. Much more.



Well, if they bring back tolls on the road, like they do in South Africa, and parking meters...Nigerians will complain.

Good things cost money. And Nigeria needs a lot more money than the pittance we earn. If yer governor is good at raising money..and it seems he isn't...then he needs to improve.

Government needs to show sincerity to reduce complain from Nigerians the government pay lip service to issues,Nigerians don't trust the governments because the government as repeatedly failed them,they have 100million to buy forms but not to do simple basic things,how do you expect Nigerians to cooperate

babasolution:


Government needs to show sincerity to reduce complain from Nigerians the government pay lip service to issues,Nigerians don't trust the governments because the government as repeatedly failed them,they have 100million to buy forms but not to do simple basic things,how do you expect Nigerians to cooperate

Nigerians too need to be more proactive...and more realisitic.

Subsidywise20:


And they had money to improve services because government was not telling them how much they should charge for internet and phone calls and SIM.

If they were, we would still be relying on internet cafe for all our internet needs, and we won't be able to call between networks , and service would still be poor and restricted to a few urban centers.

Who told you government didn't tell them what to charge,they were pricing guidelines for them ,they cudnt just charge arbitrarily, when improved technology came they invested in it and got more customers from the low income people thereby getting more money,most of them borrowed money to invest,the high prices wasn't even favourable to the companies themselves

Subsidywise20:
Do you guys in Lagos and any other city pay the same kind of taxes and water bills as do the foreign countries you ire?

The simple reason why you don't have all them goodies is, in addition to the corruption, the money really is not enough (And no, I am not excusing bad leadership, or saying Buhari is a great man, a new Ghandi).

Our budget is about $30 billion per annum. Many of the countries that have all those goodies have higher budgets (Spain spends over 100 billion on health alone).

If you want good city services, good water and good light...then pay the kind of taxes and bills they pay abroad for those servicies. Because the amount we earn from oil is not enough even if we were ten million. And let;s not just vote...let us do more then vote.

And remove subsides on power and petrol. These subsides are a big part of our problem. As cost of producing power and petrrol rises, so does the subsides that need to be paid...and these subsides in turn eat out more of our budget...

Also, let us stop thinking that economic development comes from selling raw materials, and so forth. It comes from using those raw materials for something.

Nigerian government failed in providing these basic amenities from the scratch. The issue here is not about paying tax alone. If basic amenities such as pipe borne water, good roads and constant electricity are provided there is no doubt Nigerians won't start paying tax. You can't pay for a service that is not rendered. The Lekki toll gate was mounted after the construction of the road. And Nigerians complied with the toll payment not until the Endsars incident that led to the closure of the toll gate. We need visionary leaders that will develop this country with good policy.

babasolution:


Who told you government didn't tell them what to charge,they were pricing guidelines for them ,they cudnt just charge arbitrarily, when improved technology came they invested in it and got more customers from the low income people thereby getting more money,most of them borrowed money to invest,the high prices wasn't even favourable to the companies themselves

Government was not telling them how much they could charge.

Look, I the early days of GSM in Nigeria. Prices were sky high. A sim could cost N10000, a welcome package from V mobile in 2002 cost N23000 naira. I got my first sim for N7000 (Mtel) in 2004. A lot of money then (I was a student then). And that was the government owned GSM company. (now private, and largely internet service provider).

If government was setting prices, ya think they would have been that high.?

They got the money to provide improved service and buy improved tech from our pockets.

A lot of Nigerians were complaining back then, and many people called for what amounted to government setting the price. Thank God Obasanjo did not listen to them.

Things cost money. If Government was setting price, you think they would have let them keep prices that high back then?

horchukoh:
Nigerian government failed in providing these basic amenities from the scratch. The issue here is not about paying tax alone. If basic amenities such as pipe borne water, good roads and constant electricity is provided there is no doubt Nigerians won't start paying tax. You can't pay for a service that is not render. The Lekki toll gate was mounted after the construction of the road. And Nigerians complied with the toll payment not until the Endsars incident that led to the closure of the toll gate. We need visionary leaders that will develop this country with good policy.

And where do the money for the basic amenities come from?

Abroad, it is high taxes. Here in Nigeria, it comes from oil money...which cannot sustain a population of ten million talkless of the 200 million or more we have.

As an example. Denmark has free education good water, and so on. And they pay for it at a tax to gdp ratio of 46%. Nigeria is at 8%

And the corruption we have makes things worse....so don't think I am denying corruption of the government.

Yes, there are times Nigeria builds a lot of good stuff. We build good roads, for example. But to pay for the maintenance of the roads, we need to toll them, like they do in other developed countries. But in Nigeria, we removed the tolls in 2002. See how bad our roads are now.

It is one thing to build amenities, it is another to keep them working and upgrade them regularly.

Subsidywise20:


And where do the money for the basic amenities come from?

Abroad, it is high taxes. Here in Nigeria, it comes from oil money...which cannot sustain a population of ten million talkless of the 200 million or more we have.

As an example. Denmark has free education good water, and so on. And they pay for it at a tax to gdp ratio of 46%. Nigeria is at 8%

And the corruption we have makes things worse....so don't think I am denying corruption of the government.

Yes, there are times Nigeria builds a lot of good stuff. We build good roads, for example. But to pay for the maintenance of the roads, we need to toll them, like they do in other developed countries. But in Nigeria, we removed the tolls in 2002. See how bad our roads are now.

It is one thing to build amenities, it is another to keep them working and upgrade them regularly.

Corruption contributed alot to the mess we're facing in Nigeria today. It's estimated that Nigeria has earned over 400bn dollars from oil since it was discovered in 1950s. If we had use 50 percent of the money in developing this country . We would have been a centre of attraction to the world.

Denmark does not have crude oil but they've been able to develop their country from the little rescouces they have and considering their population isn't that much.

There is also almost zero tolerance to corruption in those abroad countries too.

The government of those countries have planned things in such a way that you can't evade tax if you are resident of their country. And also the citizens don't have any reason not to pay their tax since everything they want has been provided.

Unlike in Nigeria where you provide your own power, water etc. It will be difficult to pay tax if the government officials come knocking at your door.

At this stage, the government needs to find other means to provide these basic amenities for the populace and they can later think of how to tax them. Even though they have started doing so.

My opinion.

horchukoh:


Corruption contributed alot to the mess we're facing in Nigeria today. It's estimated that Nigeria has earned over 400bn dollars from oil since it was discovered in 1950s. If we had use 50 percent of the money in developing this country . We would have been a centre of attraction to the world.

Denmark does not have crude oil but they've been able to develop their country from the little rescouces they have and considering their population isn't that much.

There is also almost zero tolerance to corruption in those abroad countries too.

The government of those countries have planned things in such a way that you can't evade tax if you are resident of their country. And also the citizens don't have any reason not to pay their tax since everything they want has been provided.

Unlike in Nigeria where you provide your own power, water etc. It will be difficult to pay tax if the government officials come knocking at your door.

At this stage, the government needs to find other means to provide these basic amenities for the populace and they can later think of how to tax them, even though they have started doing so.

My opinion.

Denmark can pay for the goodies because tax

Nigeria does not pay enough tax, so gofment canmot pay for the goodies, so we pay for.them ourselves.

Corruption makes a bad thing worse.


Chicken or egg.

Subsidywise20:


Denmark can pay for the goodies because tax

Nigeria does not pay enough tax, so gofment canmot pay for the goodies, so we pay for.them ourselves.

Corruption makes a bad thing worse.


Chicken or egg.

So you believe with effective tax policy Nigeria will become a better country? I don't think so.

Even if all Nigerians are taxed there won't be enough money to develop this country.

Our currency is worthless in the international market. We are not a productive country. We don't manfucature anything that can bring in large foreign exchange.

Our refineries are not functioning. We import crude oil product. Ajaokuta rolling steel mill has been abandoned for over 30 years.

This is not a result of Nigerians not paying tax. It's a result of the negligence of our evil and corrupt leaders.

horchukoh:

So you believe with effective tax policy Nigeria will become a better country? I don't think so.

Even if all Nigerians are taxed there won't be enough money to develop this country.

Our currency is worthless in the international market. We are not a productive country. We don't manfucature anything that can bring in large foreign exchange.

Our refineries are not functioning. We import crude oil product. Ajaokuta rolling steel mill has been abandoned for over 30 years.

This is not a result of Nigerians not paying tax. It's a result of the negligence of our evil and corrupt leaders.

Nigerian economy is bad because we have based it on raw materials whose prices we do not control, not using those raw materials to make goods and services whose prices we can set.

We have bad light and power because subsidy regime means both sectors canmot make a profit to build up refining and power supply capacity and thus they end up relying on government money which opens the door for corruption and stealing

And yes we need as a nation to have a better tax policy. So that we can pay for things like free education and health.

And yes we need to hold our goverment at all levels to . Not when we want our side to win.

Subsidywise20:


Nigerian economy is bad because we have based it on raw materials whose prices we do not control, not using those raw materials to make goods and services whose prices we can set.

We have bad light and power because subsidy regime means both sectors canmot make a profit to build up refining and power supply capacity and thus they end up relying on government money which opens the door for corruption and stealing

And yes we need as a nation to have a better tax policy. So that we can pay for things like free education and health.

And yes we need to hold our goverment at all levels to . Not when we want our side to win.

So how do we hold our government able, when they seem untouchable

horchukoh:
So how do we hold our government able, when they seem untouchable

That invovles doing the hard work of democracy

Which i leave to you to find out. I cannot answer that question for you. You have to do so yourself

Babaken:
You can't pay tax for what's not working fix those thing and people will be glad to pay for it let's take light for instance if someone can use 10k to buy fuel for his generator monthly give the person 24hrs uninterrupted light charge the person 5 to 6k for light monthly the person will pay without complaining.
I pay 3000naira equivalent monthly for Water bill am talking of two rooms self contain with two washroom I pay it without complaining cuz there's 24hrs water to use. But when the water is not coming don't expect me to pay for the water bill smiling.

Baba that's the situation we are now in 9ja we can't pay for service we are not enjoying, government cannot offer this service because they don't have money. So how can we move forward and build infrastructure? By borrowing but even the funny thing is that the money we are burrowing is not enough (forget I don't flinch when people complain that buhari is burrowing to much, lol money may no even reach). Like one Senator said 'Nigeria is borrowing from the future to build their yesterday'. Now imagine a situation like this how 9ja won progress?
Na why I still dey insist that no matter who enter next year 9ja future is still bleak.

babasolution:


Yet,when the governor of Lagos went to epe yesterday to launch projects of market stall and recreational centre built by a lawmaker he went with an helicopter and you said there's no money,do you know how much it makes to maintain those helicopter he uses,why cudnt he drive,simply cos the roads are terrible,and how cud an ordinary law maker build market stalls but you say the state government doesn't have money to,this things are simple things that doesn't cost lots of money as you think,do you know how much people already pay for daily transport through bad roads,if the community roads are well built and people have to pay some token for it people will pay,transportation cost and maintenance of vehicles is already costing people far more than the so called council tax you talking about.if people see the efforts of the government they will cooperate,but people are not seeing it,government waste a lot of money on failed elephant projects like the light blue rail project.

Baba I dey feel you but recently I have been doing a lot of critical thinking and I think we Nigerians have to generally change our mindset. The blame is with the government 100% but I believe that all this quagmire we are now has been to the negligence, corruption and lack of critical thinking in government that has been going on for decades. Now if the government should propose a ppp for federal highway where we have to pay no be still Nigerians go complain? Or they propose parking taxes imagine a state like Lagos doing that no be we go still complain even though we know that money from this can be use for maintenance (so the issue of our infrastructure getting dilapidated overtime has been solved) and also construction of more roads.
Well I won't blame the masses because over the years we've never really have trust in the government due to their corruption practices so theirs no motivation to even do anything.

babasolution:


The internet,gsm thing was as a result of improvement of technology which made things cheaper , quicker and more efficient,not because they had money to improve services,it was improved technology that made things better not improved service ,if the technology didn't improve very quick we would still be paying high prices for those things

.
We are even focused on Nigeria. True you're right but what about other sectors have they not been improvements? In the manufacturing, agricultural and other sectors in the general world has they not been improvements where they now has more yield.
The major improvement to our IT sector is because it's wholly run by the private industry and has little or no government input. Imagine when obasanjo brings GSM and government try to fully own ICT sector in Nigeria you think say e go improve like this? When GSM and IT sector was introduced then it was very expensive, some will even say it's more expensive to buy Sim card(thousands of naira) than even the mobile phone. Imagine government don intervene back then to introduce subsidy on Sim cards and data plans. Will you still be enjoying the nationwide broadband with quality connections now? Or is how cheap and easily accessible it is to get the internet now. Why is because this industry is sole control by the private sectors and they are running at a profit as a result over the years we are enjoying their sector now. Nigeria can compete with anywhere around the world when it comes to internet connections and mobile networks. We even get better connections many better country for Europe.
Now imagine if other sectors like power, nnpc, health, university, road construction has been allowed to run on profit back then with ppp. We could have bear the grunt back then but how do you think each of those sectors will fare now?

babasolution:
This should not be turned to a Yoruba Igbo word exchange.please
I am neither Yoruba nor Igbo.
I was born and grew up in Lagos.

I was born in a federal estate were there was pipeborne water to our houses.in the late 90s it stopped and never came again.

This was a federal estate so it is also an issue with the federal government not just a LAGOS problem.

I did uni in a northern state,you wouldn't believe there was pipeborne water to almost all communities in the state,even in very rural areas.but a state like Lagos and almost all southern states this is non existent.

Why can't Lagos create a simple cost efficient system to address the basic needs of the state.
Instead of just going for gigantic projects all the time,building bridges and fly overs and the train which is sinking a lot of money.

Simple projects like standard well built community roads(the inner roads in Lagos are terrible)

Pipeborne water schemes
Refuse collection schemes and drainage management schemes
Community housing( low cost houses) probably high rise buildings that wudnt occupy land space.
Better cheap markets stalls instead of traders selling on the roadsides.

LAGOS rural communities are suffering terribly,this was what inspired my previous thread of the West neglecting their rural communities.

Even though local government are not working it doesn't stop the state from taking over these responsibilities.

Nigerian unitary federal system is not good but governments shouldn't bind themselves from taking responsibility.

Just like Samuel ortom watched his people being massacred and keeps calling on buhari all in the name of security is federal responsibility instead of taking responsibility and protecting his people.

Lagos has most if what you have listed out but the truth is that it is not throughout the state and that's why government is in continuum. Lagos state is not where it should be yet but giant strides towards achieving greatness is being taken and we can see development upon development. It can only be better.