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DRESSING FALSEHOOD IN THE VEIL OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

Published

2 years ago

December 16, 2022

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was established in 1973 to promote national unity, integration and development, through the mobilization and deployment of Nigerian graduates, trained within and outside the country.

Since inception almost 50 years ago, the Scheme has successfully mobilized over 10,000,000 graduates.

The operations of the Scheme during every service year are segmented into: Orientation Course, Primary Assignment, Community Development Service, and Winding-Up/Passing-Out.

Through the listed four cardinal programmes, NYSC inculcates into the participating graduates values such as: discipline, patriotism, hard work, loyalty, self reliance, team spirit, dedication, among many others.

Considering the fact that the graduates, who are Corps Members are passing through a crucible which the Scheme exemplifies, they are expected to come out as better and more responsible citizens.

High premium is attached to Corps Members for which NYSC Management at all times makes adequate arrangements for their reception and provides qualified manpower from the Scheme and collaborating agencies effective running of the Corps; right from the process of registration for service, until they are finally discharged and issued Certificate of National Service.

NYSC is into partnership with agencies such as the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Red Cross Society, Federal Fire Service, Federal and State Ministries of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Pharmaceutical Companies traditional rulers, National Union of Road Transport Workers and Transport Companies, with view to ensuring a holistic training, remolding, welfare and security of the Corps Members throughout the duration of the service year.

The NYSC Act assigns responsibilities to the Federal, State and local Governments towards the running of the Scheme.

These range from funding to provision of orientation camps and facilities in all states; as well as provision of Corps lodges in all local government areas among others.

To leave no loophole at all levels of preparation for every service year, NYSC Management brings together all the critical stakeholders to series of brainstorming sessions such as Annual Management Conference, Pre-mobilization Workshop and Pre-orientation workshop during which critical decisions are reached and resolutions are shared among participants for strict compliance.

It is imperative to state at this point that some of the key issues contained in resolutions of every Pre-orientation workshop centre around: provision of habitable and conducive accommodation in all the NYSC Orientation camps; provision of adequate and delicious meals for Corps members and meeting their health needs through the provision of enough essential drugs in all camp clinics.

Suffice it to add that the National Health insurance scheme fully takes charge of all health issues during the Orientation programme. They provide drugs and medical treatment through medical Doctors that are Consultants, Pharmacists, Nurses, medical lab Scientists, all drawn from the tertiary medical centres and Teaching hospitals who are resident in camp throughout the 21–day duration of Orientation course.

As a way of ensuring strict compliance with Orientation guidelines and directives, NYSC Management deploys officers from the National Directorate Headquarters who reside in the camp throughout the duration of the exercise. Officers of the rank of Deputy and Assistant Directors are also sent on inspection and monitoring of camp facilities and programmes.

In addition to that, Directors and even the Director–General also pay working visits to all the Orientation camps. To crown it all, the Chairman and members of the NYSC National Governing Board, as well as Chairmen and members of the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Youth pay unscheduled visits to all Orientation camps.

To say the least, reports from the various inspections and tours have always guided NYSC Management in policy formulations and NYSC Orientation camp which is not a 3 or 5-star hotel is among the most well organized settings for grooming of graduate youths.

No wonder the NYSC recently got a 4-star rating by Servicom Office in the Presidency owing to its efficiency in service delivery.

It therefore leaves a sour taste in the mouth when some individuals with ulterior motive cast aspersions on the NYSC, without background or requisite information on the subject of the discourse.

More often than not, the aspersions arise as a result of unwholesome requests turned down which is unknown to the unsuspecting public.

It is befuddling that the Scheme which has been providing thousands of indigent Nigerians with free medical services under the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers will be handicapped in providing basic medical services in Orientation camps for its own Corps Members?

Corps Members’ welfare remains a cardinal policy thrust of the National Youth Service Corps. There had been instances ailing Corps Members are flown abroad for medical issues that defy local treatment at the expense of the Corps.

The Corps will never shirk its responsibility of catering to the general welfare of Corps Members.

While the Scheme is not averse to constructive criticisms, it will be appropriate to verify any subject being written on the Scheme to guard against serving the public falsehood.

Eddy Megwa fnipr, Director, Press and Public Relations, NYSC, writes from Abuja.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

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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