Paper short abstract:

Continuing reforms to property tax in Lagos, Nigeria have created a novel governance nexus. Lagos State links tax administration to titling processes; so Lagosians employ tax registration and payment strategically in a wider effort to define and defend property rights within a dynamic hybrid system.

Paper long abstract:

Continuing reforms to property taxation in Lagos, Nigeria, amidst a property boom have created a novel nexus in governance. While the state and taxpayers contest over value and value-extraction through collection policy, tax rates and practical norms of collection, a broader transformation is at work. For administrative utility, Lagos State has linked tax administration to titling processes; so now Lagosians have employed tax registration and payment as an additional strategy in a wider struggle to define and defend rights to their property. This is a useful tactic in a dynamic and hybrid situation which mixes precolonial, postcolonial and developmental regimes of rights. In contrast to studies after De Soto, this research shows that property rights in contemporary Lagos are not so much 'digital' - things that either exist or don't - but in this context at least, are 'analogue' - things people may have in varying degree, and which they are engaged in processes of strengthening and contesting, in ways which appropriate state policies such as taxation to other ends. In doing so, this paper also showcases that some of the most significant products of taxation can be unintended; the regimes of regulation and certification which are brought in to enable tax administration show their utility in other spheres, as we see ordinary Lagosians leverage them as ways of enhancing the depth and security of their own property claims.