Lagos Taxi Market Value put at N28bn

The Lagos State government has put the value of the taxi market in the state at N28 billion, saying the market has the potential to further boost the tourism industry and create more jobs in Nigeria’s biggest economy if taxi operations are properly formalised.

And in what aims at gradually bringing the growing taxi operations in the state into the formal sector of the economy, enhance security of operators and passengers alike, the government has unveiled a new taxi system which, it said, would put paid to haphazard taxi operations that had contributed to insecurity of life and property in the commercial city.

The governor, Babatunde Fashola, at the inauguration of the new tax regime in Ikeja, explained the expected benefits, saying apart from curbing insecurity presently noticed in taxi operations in the state, the new system “has great economic advantage.”

According to Fashola, improper regulation is already affecting the state’s tourism industry, saying “without good transport system, Lagos will not be tourist destination of our dream. That is why we are building strategic infrastructure.”

Present at the event were stakeholders in the transportation sector among them Kayode Opeifa, commissioner for transport and Tajudeen Adetoro, president of Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cab Operators Association.

To enhance the operations of the new scheme, the government, Fashola said, had approved a flat rate of N100,000 for new taxi licence. He disclosed, however, that as a way of encouraging the smooth takeoff of the new regime, 14,000 taxi operators had been granted the licences free of charge. The state government had early in the year approved vehicles not above 12 years from the date of manufacturing “will be allowed for taxi operation in the state.”
The governor said the new system would bring dignity to taxi operation and eradicate impression that taxi jobs “are for the dropouts or the dejected in the society,” arguing that it was purely a business for core professionals.

He explained that the new system would enable taxi operators create wealth; build well-regulated operational environment and provide insurance coverage for both commuters and operators, as the government “is giving the taxi operators business they can pass to the next generation. The licence can be sold, transferred, leased and used as collateral security to obtain credit facilities from banks,” said Fashola.

He said the system had helped the state build a robust database for all taxi operators in the state, thereby putting the total number of 12,617 taxi drivers and 10,882 taxi cabs currently operating legitimately in the state. He urged the taxi operators to embrace the new system and check illegal operators, citing security implications and economic sabotage from non licenced operators