Featured
Youth Groups Solicits Support For NYSC

The Yoruba Youth Parliament, National Association of Yoruba Students and Oodua Youth Council have appealed for more public support for NYSC towards discharging its statutory responsibilities.
They commended the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim for his open door policy and giant strides in transformating the Scheme since he assumed duty.
Speaking through the leader of Yoruba Youth Council, Mr Adeyeye Olugbenga during a courtesy visit to NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Abuja today, the groups said the Scheme has been an enabler of youth development with different activities that would enhance self-reliance among Corps Members.
“We are here to appreciate you for the impact you have made on Nigerian youths regardless of tribal and religious differences”.
“All of us are supposed to come together and think on how to enhance the operations of the Scheme”.
Adeleye promised to advocate for the continuity of the NYSC Scheme, so that it can positively affect more lives with Government’s attention.
NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim in his response said the Scheme was established for the promotion of National Unity and Integration.
He added that Corps Members are agents of change and peaceful co-existence in their various place of Primary Assignments.
He said the NYSC Scheme introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme into its Orientation Course Content in order to empower Corps Members with vocational skills that would make them business owners.
The DG added that “Corps Members that acquire these skills and are very serious do get loans from the Bank of Industry, Access Bank, NYSC Foundation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Unity Bank among others”.
“NYSC was established to promote National Unity and integration”.
“We can’t pursue integration alone without skills, with integration, there would be unity, with unity, there would be peace, and when there is peace, there would be development”.
He appealed for the establishment of NYSC Trust Fund where all Corps Members that are Passing-Out would be enabled to access start-up capital to start their business vocations
“Help us to also educate Nigerians to support our cause so that Corps Members would be more comfortable during the Orientation Course and also help to maintain the facilities at the Orientation Camp”.
“Use the Social Media to promote national unity and integration. Use the Social Media wisely, avoid cyber crimes, avoid the use of hard drugs among other vices “.
“Let the spirit of NYSC live in you, and continue to propagate the message of unity of our country”, he said
During the visit, souvenirs were presented by the three youth groups to the Director-General, while he also reciprocated the kind gesture.
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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