Akanbi, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District between 2015 – 2019 stated this in a letter addressed to the Director- General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), titled ‘REQUEST FOR URGENT SUPPORT FOR ARAROMI AUTO SPARE PARTS MARKET, AGODI-GATE, IBADAN, OYO STATE’.

The popular auto spare parts market had encountered an inferno on Friday, April 2nd 2021 which decimated the market place, resulting in loss of goods and properties estimated to be over a billion naira.

According to the APC chieftain, owing to this unfortunate incident, many business owners have been rendered impoverished due to the losses they suffered from the fire that annihilated their source of livelihood as businesses and investments built for decades all got wiped out.

The letter reads, “I and few other individuals have supported them in our little way of salvaging the situation but this cannot be compared to the amount of help needed to help the humanitarian situation created by the unfortunate circumstance. On my part, I donated building materials which included 600 bags of cement and 400 pieces of roofing sheets; but more needs to be done. Hence, my appeal and call for your intervention.

“Historically, the market is one of the biggest markets in Southwest Nigeria when it comes to auto spare parts dealing. It, therefore, calls for urgent attention for the market and marketers to immediately receive relief building materials and cash support to ease the rebuilding of their wrecked businesses and get back on their feet without hassles.

“It is on this note that I make a passionate appeal and request to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as the lawmaker who represented Oyo South Senatorial District (where the market is domiciled) in the 8th National Assembly and as the Okanlomo of Ibadan Land (rare son of Ibadan Land) that relief materials be made available as soon as possible”.

The post Akanbi makes case for traders of Ibadan spare parts market fire, writes NEMA for relief materials, cash support first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Akanbi makes case for traders of Ibadan spare parts market fire, writes NEMA for relief materials, cash support appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Prior to 2007, billboards was a source of revenue to the local governments. However, on assumption of office, the former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola established the Lagos Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA).

The pioneer LASAA Director-General, Barrister Makanjuola was reporting directly to the governor. He performed excellently by flushing the charlatans and quacks out of business and paved way for the key players and competent practitioners. LASAA got rid of illegal structures in areas like: Ikeja, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Ojota, Costain and other parts of Lagos Mainland. Within a year the agency was able to generate over N3b.

The Lagos model prompted other states, especially in the south-west to establish their own advertisement agencies. Unfortunately most of them have not been able to meet up with the ‘Eko’ standard.

In the pacesetter state, the Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency, unarguably, has not been able to live to its mandate of ensuring that the signage beautify our environment. Many billboards constitute nuisance and threats to the lives of the people.

Ideally, a minimum of 100m is required in between billboards on the same road. But here in Oyo State, especially in Ibadan, the state capital, billboards are clustered in areas like: Adamasingba, Dugbe, Agodi-Gate, UI-Ojoo road, Iwo road and others. Apart from clustering, many of these structures are erected directly high-tension wires. Inasmuch the state needs to boost its revenue, people’s lives, healthy and safety environment are also significant.

The question is who are those people behind this growing insanity and illegality? In a chat with the Head, Ibadan Office of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Mr. Olajide Olishile, he said: ‘allocation of sites for billboards is the sole responsibility of OYSAA’. When confronted with the query on the billboard erected at Mokola Roundabout under the high-tension wire, an Enforcement Officer at OYSAA simply denied that no structure is under the wire.

Meanwhile, further investigations revealed that many of these billboards belong to OYSAA members of staff who don’t even have the skills and statutory requirements to practice.

Now that the rainy season is here, many of these billboards may not be able to withstand the heavy winds that characterise the period. In order to avoid any eventuality, it’s high time the OYSAA, Director-General, Hon. Temi Addibi, stop relying only on the reports from the field, swung into action by leading a powerful task force to uproot these illegal billboards.

The post Outdoor Advertising in Oyo State And The Growing Insanity | By Waheed Ganiyu first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Outdoor Advertising in Oyo State And The Growing Insanity | By Waheed Ganiyu appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

As early as 9am, no fewer than 20 different branches of the various banks had been shut with sealed notices placed at the property.

Some of the areas the enforcement team carried out their activities include, Dugbe, Mokola, Idi-Ape, Agodi Gate, Secretariat Road, Challenge, Jericho, Bodija, UI among others.

Some of the affected banks also include, Diamond, Stanbic IBTC, Skye, FCMB, Heritage.

Immediately the officials of the affected banks were seen running around to tidy up their papers to save losing the whole days business.

While some succeeded in making the necessary payment as fast as they could to resume operations, some others were seen still trying to reach out to superior authority for further directive.

A source within the government enforcement team said the affected banks defaulted in the payment of the annual environmental development levy.

The tax, which is paid to the coffers of the state government is said to be payment for the impact of the various business and corporate entities on the environment across the state.

The affected banks were also said to have been found guilty for various duration ranging from 2015 to 2018, despite series of official communications and reminders to the management at different times.

It would be recalled that the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue (OYBIR), the coordinating agency for collecting all government revenues had last month issued a 14 day ultimate to all tax payers in the state to pay up all outstanding dues and levies to the coffers of government.

The Chairman of the Board, Mr Bicci Alli had warned in the paid advertorial that the agency would embark on massive enforcement to seal up all erring corporate organisations on the expiration of the ultimatum.

But a source hinted that about two weeks after the expiration of the 14 days, the OYBIR had also written series of reminder letters to the affected banks, to which no response was gotten until the enforcement.

Many people who were within the affected bank premises when the enforcement team sealed up were seen with shock on the faces and expressing disappointment that cooperate organizations like banks could default in tax payment.

Alli said, the enforcement team decided to focus on banks to serve as deterrent to other defaulting corporate organisations, adding that the exercise is continuous.

The post Tax default: Oyo govt seals banks in Ibadan first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Tax default: Oyo govt seals banks in Ibadan appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.