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Concentration On Welfares Of Nigerian Children, Groups Urges Govt, Parents Others

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By Joel Ajayi

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate 2022 children’s day celebration, a group known as A Mother’s Love Initiative AMLI, has urged government at all levels, Parents and guardians to concentrate on child focused interventions instead of their “Hurried Child Project” that is not helping the children.

The founder of AMLI, organization, Mrs. Hanatu Enwemadu Esq, stated this on Friday in Abuja at the occasion of May 27th children day celebration across the world to bring to fore issues pertaining to the growth and development of the next generation.

At the event that hosts children and young people from schools and institutions across the country in celebration of the Nigerian child.

She expressed that, Children are the future and there is need for all to join hands to protect them, and preserve the future of Nigeria, and Africa at large.

According to her, today, we at A Mother’s Love Initiative AMLI have taken it upon ourselves to create awareness on the need to concentrate on the welfare of the Nigerian child.

“Children form the core of the family, and family is the core of every society: hence, the welfare and interest of the child must be the fore, and core of any polity if we will achieve the new Nigeria which we all clamor for.

We are here today to intentionally celebrate the resilience of the Nigerian child despite all the negativity and create positive, loving and lasting memories for them.

Speaking on the burning issues relating to the Nigerian child and young people, which is

The Hurried Child Syndrome (psychosocial maladjustment inflicted on adolescents and youths as a result of hurrying them through their educational and developmental milestones), which threaten their existence and wellbeing.

She called on all and sundry, and in particular, parents, caregivers. Guardians, teachers, school owners, and all stakeholders to celebrate Nigerian children and celebrate each moment and stage of their lives, that will allow children to grow at their pace. 

“We also call on the society to concentrate on child focused interventions, since children are fast becoming endangered species in Nigeria with the spate of abductions in schools and all manner of vices children are exposed to in Nigeria.”

In his opening addressed the AMLI legal adviser Uche Ginika Esq said desire to have a better future was the reason for the event to promote and engineer public discuss relating to the general wellbeing of the Nigerian child, and to witness the launch of the “The Hurried Child Project” an intense exposé on the ills of hurrying our dear children through life.

However, during the event various lectures, expositions, and presentations relating to children’s welfare; entertainment was in place a step geared towards creating awareness on the predicaments of the Nigerian child, while demanding empathy for the threatened wellbeing and future of Nigeria. Remember, children are our future.

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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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