The Association of Venue Owners Lagos Nigeria (AVOLN) has said multiple taxations are toughening the business environment for its members amid slow economic growth and shrinking disposable income.
According to its members, event centres pay as much as fifteen different types of taxes/levies to the federal, state, and local government authorities, making it challenging for them to improve profit margins.
“My event centre has about fifteen different types of taxes we pay to the government, the federal government, and state government and there are still bodies that will come and request we pay them as well, the regulation is too much. We are talking to the government and we are willing to pay but when it becomes too much, that is when we start cutting corners, fifteen regulatory bodies are regulating, and we won’t be at rest and concentrate to face the business” said Wemi Jones, the president of AVOLN.
In a speech, during the media launch, Jones said “the launch is to enable government, their agencies, other event centres that have not joined us and media houses to know of our existence and what we stand for. We are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and currently have had close to one hundred active members. It is worthy to mention that we are proud to have almost all the notable names in the industry as members of AVOLN”
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AVOLN is the umbrella body for venue and event centre owners in Lagos which was conceived in September 2016 after a venues summit put together by Venue Compass Limited. The group subsequently had its first meeting in October 2016 and has had several other meetings thereafter.
“We believe that at the end of this programme, our stakeholders and the general public will get to know us better and understand that our principal focus as an association is service standardisation, accountability and advocacy. We are however committed irreversibly to contributing our quota to making Lagos the city of our dream under the leadership of Akinwumi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos state” he stated.
Given current economic realities, venue owners and operators have had to deal with macroeconomic headwinds and dwindling disposable incomes of the majority of would-be clients.
This has driven down prices at which members lease out venues even as operating costs were hitting the rooftops, such as diesel. “Unfortunately some of our regulatory agencies’ have done a 100 per cent increase on some of our obligations due to them. We will after this launch, request to have further discussions on the way forward in respect of this and other related matters” Jones said.
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The organisation believes in and supports Lagos megacity drive, under Ambode’s focused and pragmatic leadership.
AVOLN is redefining how members see themselves. “Most of us saw one other as competitors and we allowed people to take advantage of us. We had a programme last year where we agreed to come together and by October last year, we had our meeting, decided to organise a launch and make ourselves a formidable force for good” Jones added.
Ten years from today, there will be stricter standards for admitting members as the organisation expands across Nigeria. Some of the requirements will include conforming to certain provisions of government, having enough parking spaces and exit, taking care of emergencies and being conscious of the risks attached to running an event centre among others.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
