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Athlete’ Adoption initiative: Tokyo bound Anyanacho Applauds Sports Minister, ACTDF others

Joel Ajayi
Tokyo bound Olympic Taekwondo Athlete Elizabeth Anyanacho has commended the “African Children Talent Discovery Foundation ACTDF over the step of organization to adopt her in the ongoing adoption of Athletes initiated by the ministry of youth and sport development in the country.
ACTDF is a United Nations Grade-C non-profit international organization with a mission to empowering the youth and the less privileged.
Elizabeth Ahanacho along with her counterpart Patience Akpan were adopted by the Foundation last week during an impressive ceremony at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Abuja.
The Foundation led by Engineer Noah Dallaji decided to adopt Patience George in Athletics and Elizabeth Anyanacho In Taekwondo to the tune of $10,000 each to boost their Olympics preparations.
While reacting to her Adoption, Anyanacho expressed “First, I want to thank the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports and the Minister of Youths & Sports, Mr Sunday Dare, for driving this impactful “adopt an athlete” initiative.
“I sincerely extend this thanks to everyone who worked hard behind the scenes to make this possible, including our Olympic gold medalist, Ambassador Daniel Amokachi SA Sports to Mr. President; and our five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic Medalist, Ambassador Mary Onyali MFR, SA to the HM.
“Before I speak on today’s positive news, it is equally important to thank everyone who has supported me in my infantile career – my technical crew, family, friends, Nigerians from all walks of life whose critical donations helped my preparations recently and the media.
I also preemptively thank all those who will support me as my career progress.
“For the past six years, I have dreamt, not only of being on the Olympic podium, but to grow to become the best in my sport someday. This kind of dream requires adequate preparations which demands ample resources.
“So, for the past six years, so much hard work has gone into my journey and development. The journey has been exceedingly difficult and severally hampered by the lack of resources. So many opportunities were missed because we could not afford them.
“So, when an organization comes along and gives a push to my dream of many years, you can imagine how much it means to me.
“On this note, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the “African Children Talent Discovery Foundation” who signed up to the ‘adopt-an-athlete’ program, initiated by the Hon. Min. of Youth & Sports, Mr Sunday Dare, that made me a beneficiary today.
“Today, ACTDF’s investment in my Olympic dream can only serve to inspire so many young people like me to keep working hard to achieve their dreams, no matter where they come from. ACTDF’s investment is a clarion call and shining example to other organizations to support and invest in the dreams and aspirations of young persons like me.
“I want to say thank you to ACTDF for this affirmative action in fulfilling their mission, which clearly highlights the important work ACTDF does in empowering young people. Today’s affirmative action gives a boost to my resolve and confidence to m makes a positive result, not only at the Tokyo Olympics but in my unfolding career.”
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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