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All-Stars FC Kubwa  Make Yuletide Special For Children Living With Disabilities

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Joel Ajayi

Despite having nothing to do with the children, young, and adults living with disabilities, All Stars Football Club Kubwa has made their impact felt with the donation of food items, beverages and toiletries Daughters of Charity Service For Children With Special Needs Hope Center Kubwa in Abuja.

The visit, which took place on Saturday 12th of December 2020 in collaborations with Generous Care Foundation, Queen Favour Mikado foundation, and JDPC who’s as well donated the gifts for the children.

The Gesture was the first Corporate Social Responsibility outing of All-Stars FC Kubwa, and it may just have ushered in the Christmas season quite early for the children with special needs.

A highlight of the occasion is when music was played for the children with special needs they danced to the stupor and were excited and happy like never before.

In his address, the Chairman of Abuja All-Stars Football Clubs of Kubwa Mr. Godwin Ekpah, expressed  that, hope center for children, young  and adults living with disabilities mean so much to the club

“That is why we bring lover of men, Generous Care Foundation, Queen Favour Mikado foundation, and JDPC others as well known that its Christmas period we need to celebrate with them.

“We have identified their needs, it’s not just playing football but also looking around to torch life, we don’t play football to go and make money, most of us are ex-players and this is our Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is giving back to society.

“It’s not easy when you understand what people pass through in life, these children are physically challenged, they were born with it but as you can see, they did not think of all that, what you see here is happiness in them, they feel excited and they feel alive.”

He, however, called on well-meaning Nigerian to always come to the need of these special people; “I encourage men are women who are in a position to give back to society lend a hand of help and assistant to people with a special need.”

Speaking also was the 2020 runner-up of Miss Tourism Edo state, Queen Favour Mikado who was overwhelmed for being part of organizations that put smiles on the faces of people with special needs.

She said: “It’s all about giving back to society, we want to reach out to the less-privilege, no matter how little, we are here to celebrate this wonderful children’s I won’t call them disable that is why we are here with these gift items to show some support for them.

“This is just a starting point, we hope to continue and do it bigger and better next year and in the years to come.”

Miss Mikado, therefore, offered a word of advice for the children not to see their physical look or mental ability as a limitation in whatever they are doing while urging beauty pageants to as from time to time reach out to people living with disabilities.

“My message to them is that they are not living with a disability, there is ability in disability they just need special needs and we are here to support them, no matter how little they should have it in mind that whatever they want to achieve with determination they can achieve it, the sky is just a starting point.

“While I call on my colleagues out there, it’s not all about being beautiful or been a pageant when you win a pageant it’s an opportunity to really touch the lives who are in need.”

A representative of the Managing Director, Generous Care Foundation, Mrs Ijeoma Ofume, also commended the efforts of the management of Hope Centre in taking  care of the children, while reassuring her Foundation’s readiness to continue supporting children these with special needs.

On her own, the Assistant Administrator of Daughters of Charity Center For Hope, Sr. Sylvia Anyanwu  DC in her address, expressed appreciation to donors for their love for the less privileged.

According to her we are extremely happy to take care of them, we will not relent they are part of us and we are part of them.

Also, she equally appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to help upgrade the school to an inclusive school where children living with or without disabilities can learn together and interact with one another. This will promote friendship amongst children of all kinds and increase compassion in their midst.

 

 

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Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

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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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