Opinion

DESERVED HONOUR BE GIVEN TO THE MINISTER OF SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

Published

7 months ago

August 13, 2024

Fely Mammah Nwokorie

Is the sack of the Honourable Minister of Sports Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the best option now that the Olympics Games is still going with high hopes of our athelets determined to have our new National athem sang in France for proper representation of our country. The Hon. Minister Sen. John Owan has distinguished himself from other Sports Minister’s in a short time of his assumption of duty in the sector.

Is Favor Ofilli the worst misfortune that has been or faced in the ministry amidst other challenges that are gradually been addressed by the Minister? Is Favor Ofilli the only hope of the country in the on going Olympic Games. Should the mistake assumed to have been cursed by the NOC a reason to project the image of our proud country or presidency negatively in a disdain manner that is detrimental to the out side world. Are the games over or has the country lost confidence in other atheletes that also, have equal opportunities to represent the country in France.

The. Honourable Minister Senator John Owan Enoh, has remained the best significant personality in the sports sector in both presentation, sincerity of purpose, representation and administration; which the ministry has in a long while, recieved from the Federal Government without prejudice. Unlike the past Minister’s that would travel two weeks before the events and over stay their welcome after the events just to ensure thier retirement of unnecessary funds spending is accounted, for their selfish protection. Both the Honorable Minister and Permanent Secretary ensured that all logistics needed by the athelets, where readily available and their training tours funded before departing same time stipulated of the games. They associated themselves with the athletes to sort out their challenges which however, exposed the omission of Ofilli’s name from the 100m participants and they immedately queried the expensive ignorance of the NOC, AFN, and all responsible.

Sen. Enoh in less than two years in Sports Development has been able to turn sadness to joy in the lives of both the staff, stakeholders, able body and differently able athletes. There has not been a trace of much greed or self centerdness in him to attract the call of, Gara-Gombe’s prayer for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to recall the personality he single handedly chose to effect changes in the sector where youths have hope for a better tomorrow as well as opportunity to challenge thier peers in the area or Success with regards to the ongoing world event. Gara-Gombe’s request should be considered both as the highest insult on the President of Nigeria and also, a challenge to the Presidents wisdom, to chose an accepted personality by the people to lead them.

A man with integrity auth to know that this is a very challenging period for the President of Nigeria and in his love for the country offer solidarity of peaceful solutions and sustainability and not enviously ask for the position that he does fit into. Gara-Gombe should as a matter of urgency be banned from his intererence in Press Correspondence dissemination of rightful information to the general public on sporting activities more especially on the on going events. His prayer for the removal of our distinguished Minister is both distraction to the President and athletes.

Sen Enoh’s record mean while, speaks volum of his change mission and vision in the ministry. For over 30 years of hopelessness in the country’s African Cup of Nation ( AFCON), Sen. John Enoh’s glorified grace, brought renewal and retuned hopefullness to sports fans. African Games held in Ghana this year placed the country on the top most medals table despite 54 African Countries meant to participate in the event.

Can any one courageously say that our athletes did not participate in any of their qualifying tournament in preparation for the on going tournament? The most expected from the minister was to ensure money was available for the events and timely. The country’s athelets participated in the opening ceremony with their speakable regalians and have their proper placement in the games village camp in France.
Should the Honorable minister take responsibility of what sports professionals, Technical Directors & NOC where expected to ensure before the games? Although sports fans feel the pain of Favour Ofilli but has any person looked spritually to forsee her convenant with the gods on this event or is she the only noted person chosen to represent the country in the on going event?

Olympic is a World event and the ministry ensured that Nigeria’s Flag fly among others above all, very notable. I agree with late Nelson Mandela that” Sports has the power to change the world” I also, agree with African American Olympic Gold Medalist Ron Freeman that” Nigerians are some of the smartest humans on the planet”. But who has called for a reward to the Honourable Minister since his short term in office with his quick understanding of the sector’s politics, technicalities and jambores of events. Is less than 2 years in the sector enough for him to be a professional or enough time to fix things right as expected. Sen. Enoh has remarkably, withdrawn all sports cases in court, recounciled stakeholders differences, paid outstanding allowances, funded most federations tournaments, querried monies not properly accounted, maintained trainings in all the departments and above all, have regular Town Hall meetings with his staff to enable him address their challenges where need be.

Suffix it to say that it is very uncredited to use the case of Favor Ofilli to launch a long reserved attack credible Minister that deserves loud ovation from Nigerians. Although the country has not gotten any Gold but likes of Tobi Amusu and the Para -lympians are been looked up to for dignifying medals. Our amiable Hon. Minister notified Nigerians when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu released money for both the Olympic and Paralympics Events.
“For whom the gods want to kill, they first make mad”. And “For whom God wants to bless, He Blesses”.

Fely Mammah Nwokorie
Press Officer,
Ministry of Sports Dev.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week 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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