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ENUGU CITIZENS LAUD GOVERNOR UGWUANYI FOR STABILIZING TRAFFIC ACTIVITIES IN THE STATE

Published

5 years ago

September 9, 2020

Enugu people have lauded the state government for bringing sanity in the state traffic activities. A cross-section of residents interviewed testified that the government has made frantic efforts to halt the hitherto incessant harassments of motorists in the state by some agents of the government. A resident of the state and a public affairs analyst, Mr. Jeff Ejiofor revealed that prior to the inception of the current administration in 2015, the chaotic traffic situation in the state was worrisome and of major concern to motorists in Enugu state.

He said that some flashpoints such as Holy Ghost roundabout/Old Park, Okpara Avenue, Otigba Junction, NOAS Junction, Abakpa Liberty, Ogui Junction, and some other busy areas of the city were like a hell to motorists who at times spent hours in the traffic build-up. Mr. Ejiofor averred that Holy Ghost and Old Park areas were the most affected as motorists dreaded and avoided them like a plague. He pointed out that even with a good road network in the city, the traffic crisis occasioned by this problem was a nightmare and it negatively affected the socio-economic life of the city.

He further stated that the unfortunate situation prompted an unconventional response by both the state and some urban local governments who, through the Ministry of Transport and Capital Territory Development Authority, recruited local tugs to enforce traffic rules. According to him, the touts as expected, and who were mandated to earn their income from what they get from the field turned a nightmare to motorists and consequently made life most difficult for road users and ordinary citizens of the state.

He apparently said that various state and local government agencies turned the problem into a cash cow for both the tugs and their paymasters through illegal harassment and extortion of motorists. He alleged that the boys introduced a system of setting traffic traps for people with the sole aim of extorting money from them, accusing Enugu East local government as the worst and most notorious of them. He revealed that throughout that period of terror, the Abakpa axis became heavily dreaded and avoided by law-abiding citizens. He concluded by saying that people who disparage the current administration for any reason have a short memory. Recounting the ordeal of residents especially motorists before the coming of Gburugburu, he said it was an era of terror that nobody will forget in a hurry. He thanked the governor for the traffic sanity which the people enjoy today as a result of his responsive ingenuity and appealed for support to enable him to take Enugu state to the next level.

Another concerned resident and a top civil servant, Dr. Godwin Chukwu while describing the situation in Enugu at that time, said it was akin to a police state where road users became so scared of going out for fear of being molested by the touts under the umbrella of MOT/CTDA. He declared that the fear of the tugs became the beginning of wisdom in Enugu, with residents and visitors living in palpable fear as a result of the unknown. Dr. Chukwu bemoaned the activities of these ill-informed miscreants who he said were backed by the local authorities to constantly instill fear on the citizens. He narrated the helpless ordeal of the conventional traffic police who according to him usually watched motorists bullied and manhandled for no just cause.

The Gleamer News learned that all efforts made by the masses through complaints and calls on the then government for help fell on deaf ears. Even on radio programmes, people called and complained bitterly about the evil activities of these criminals, yet nothing was done.

According to respondents, these illegal urchins continued terrorizing road users unabated till 2015, when an astute administrator, Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi came to power. As a caring leader who loves the masses, Ugwuanyi listened to the cries of the people and immediately suspended the activities of these terror groups. On that fateful evening, the announcement was made, jubilation erupted in the streets of Enugu, heralding a new era of freedom in the State, recounted an eye witness.

After the historic suspension of the illegal groups, he, the governor, quickly recruited over 1000 able-bodied young people and gave them 3 months of professional training in the art of traffic control. He subsequently kitted and equipped them properly with a mandate to, in conjunction with the conventional traffic police; restore traffic sanity in Enugu State.

This singular action of the governor according to residents, explains his unmatched intellectual capacity in the area of governance. He was said to have solved a problem as old as modern Enugu in less than one year of assumption of office. The respondents who looked relieved told The Gleamer News that traffic sanity has completely returned in Enugu and nobody is being harassed or molested again by tugs in the name of traffic control.

From our findings, the people are happy with Gov. Ugwuanyi who they say, has not only by this action secured Enugu roads by ensuring traffic sanity and freedom of motorists, but has also provided employment for teeming Enugu youths desirous of making their own contributions to the development of the State. According to them, he has done in one year what his predecessors could not attempt in 16 years of their leadership in the state. Gburugburu they said is indeed an icon and should be commended by all well-meaning citizens of Enugu State. They maintain that through purposeful leadership by the governor, the socio-economic life of the state has come alive again, attracting investors who sequel to the unwarranted molestations of citizens by those miscreants ran away from the state. Undoubtedly, Enugu is currently benefiting from the tranquility occasioned by this policy feat which has expectedly brought sanity in the system and given way for meaningful economic development. The people are really happy as such areas that were dreaded because of seeming intractable traffic crises are now peaceful and relatively free. Holy Ghost and Old Park no longer witness the usual traffic gridlock they were known with as according to road users, this is the first time in the history of modern Enugu one can pass the areas in less than five minutes.

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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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