Featured
14 Coaches, Players Participate in Rivers State Teqball Association Exhibition Games
Joel Ajayi
No fewer than 14 persons made up of coaches and players participated in the Rivers State Teqball Association exhibition games held last week in the state’s capital, Port Harcourt.
According to the chairman, Rivers State Teqball Association, Dr Chukwuemeka Agi, he told Nigeria Teqball Federation Media Department that the competition was primarily aimed at creating awareness about the new but interesting style of football.
Mr. Agi who is a consultant with Rivers State University, expressed optimism that with enthusiasm shown by the participants, the beautiful game of Teqball is rapidly evolving in Nigeria.
“Last week we had exhibition games right here in Port Harcourt. It was a training programme we organised to create awareness about the beautiful game of Teqball in the state.”
“It was just an exhibition game to get a few persons who are quite adept at what the rules are and then how to play and then interchange positions.”
“We had 14 persons including coaches and few players who took part in the exercise and they were quite happy about it.
“You know that Teqball is a non-contact sport and we are creating awareness about this unique kind of football in the state” he said
He further spoke of plans of the Association to reach out to the Rivers State Government and Olympic Africa on the need for sponsorship and creation of more awareness about Teqball in the state.
“On Wednesday, however, we will be having a meeting of Directors of Olympic Africa, so that I’ll be able to talk and make our request and see if we can have some funds to increase our activities.
“I have written a letter I want to submit to the Rivers State Ministry of Sports intimating them of the benefits of having a Teqball table. If they buy into it, they can also get tables, that will help us increases the awareness.”
“So, what we need to do is with people like you journalists, there are journalists in Port Harcourt as well, our secretary is a journalist of course; but there were also journalists that were trying to get in to enable us publicise it as much as possible.”
“I think soon Teqball will catch up because it is quiet fun to play. We are doing our beats to ensure the growth of Teqball in the state and trusting God, the State Government, individuals and corporate entities, we will go a long way.”
“We are also considering other options with regards to acquiring tables as resources now are limited. The funds we use for this one we did, we made contributions by ourselves. We hope that when the university opens and Olympic Africa comes on, we can be able to get some funds.”
“Do not forget that sponsorship is key to every sport but we cannot be talking about sponsorship now when a large percentage of Nigerians are not aware of this unique but fascinating sport.”
“However, we are not leaving anything to chances, we are looking for corporate entities that can partner with us but as I said, the key issue now is awareness creation, letting the people know about the sport especially at the grassroots levels.” He added.
Business
Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D
The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.
The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.
In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”
The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.
The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.
Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.
In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.
Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.
Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.
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