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ENUGU PALLIATIVE HOAX AND THE UGLY ROLE OF POLITICAL ENEMIES

Published

4 years ago

November 11, 2020

By Jeff Ejiofor

It was former Nigerian president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that said people can go out of their way in a most vicious manner just to acquire political power. Nothing can better describe the palliative scandal in Enugu State during the EndSARS violence than the above assertion where enemies of the people cooked up lies and deceived the unsuspecting public into believing a non existing hoax.

It is quite unfortunate that people, out of sheer mischief and selfish political interest can go this far in manipulating the psyche of others to the extent of endangering their lives. The whole story about hoarding of palliatives in Enugu was a huge joke taken too far, and the most regrettable aspect was the loss of lives the process.

Basically, one would not have bothered to dwell on this topic again but for the wrong impression left in the minds of some people concerning the veracity or otherwise of the issue in contention. It is implicit that the controversy surrounding the distribution of palliatives in some other states was what fuelled the spontaneous search that ensued across the country at that time and not necessarily from any well established authentic information.

As a matter of fact, it was like a bandwagon then across the country as the youths went about searching for hoarded palliatives which were meant for the poor and vulnerable at the peak of covid 19. Yes, some states actually shotchanged the masses and hoarded palliatives meant for them.

However, a few of the states including Enugu shared their own transparently. In short, Enugu State was very prompt in distributing its palliatives among the 17 local government areas of the state in August this year as confirmed by Mrs Ada Nweke, the principal of Queens School, Enugu, where they were kept.

Again, it will interest us to know that the hall where the palliatives were purportedly kept in Queens was the same place NECO exam is currently taking place. So, where lies the rationale behind the allegation that Covid 19 palliatives were still being kept there?

Is it not obvious that apart from the proactive nature of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi when it comes to the welfare of Enugu citizens, the involvement of the same school in NECO exams was a key factor that should have doused tension and made people know there was nothing there? Definitely, the hall was made available to the students for the exams with their lockers fully arranged as shown in the video circulated online. Both students and the principal of the school in separate interviews, made categorical statements about non availability of palliatives in their school at that point in time.

The principal, Mrs Ada Nweke, in a bid to clarify issues, conducted news men round the school premises and called on security agencies to come to the rescue of the students and forestall a possible repeat of the Chibok experience. She even showed the hall where the palliatives were kept in August to the whole world via social media, but the manipulated gullible ones refused to believe it and insisted on invading the school.

However, in futherance of its obligation to protect lives and property of citizens, the government pleaded with the youths of Enugu to disregard any rumour claiming that palliatives were hoarded and go about their lawful businesses.

It was widely publicized in both conventional and social media with a stern warning attached to it that government would not fold its hands and watch people take laws into their hands, insisting that it would employ whatever means available to protect the innocent school girls living in the dormitory of Queens School, Enugu.

Unfortunately, those bent on causing disaffection in Enugu continued deceiving the youths and urging them to defy government’s advice and warning. A good number of the youths fell for this cheap antics and surged towards the Queens School gate on that fateful day in defiance of the warning and security presence in an attempt to force themselves into the school before they were confronted by the security probably in self defence. We were all aware that the security operatives had lost some of their personnel in the wake of the violent protest.

It was therefore wise that people should tread with caution when trying to engage them for whatever reason.That was the mistake some youths made which led to unfortunate loss of lives of two people.

It’s quite unfortunate that the same people that instigated crisis and deceived the public about alleged hoarding of non existing palliatives, were the same people that turned around to accuse the government of directing the security to kill innocent youths in search of foods. Please let us be objectively analytical when looking at issues like this.

Assuming the security, out of anger of the loss they had already incured, decided to take their own pound of flesh by killing some of the rampaging youths, does that mean the governor or any other person in government had prodded them? We all know that at times men in uniform use their discretion in acting especially when it involves self defence.

That does not mean anybody has told them to shoot or kill. Has the government done anything wrong in providing security for those innocent school girls who would have probably been mobbed and raped had there not been security in and around the school?

Have we bothered to put ourselves in the shoes of those students’ parents? It is easier to ignore when it does not directly affect us, but the truth remains that no responsible government would have left those students unprotected under the same condition.

The same Ugwuanyi who shielded Enugu citizens at the peak of Covid 19 when some states allowed security operatives to descend on their citizens who disobeyed lockdown order cannot suddenly change and start attacking Ndi Enugu, it’s not possible.

This, also suffices to say that what our governor did was not only humane, but in tandem with his constitutional duty of protecting all law abiding citizens under his subject. Gov. Ugwuanyi discharged his responsibility by ensuring the protection of the innocent Queens School students on that fateful day and anybody concocting lies against him to the contrary is mischeviously dubious.

Finally, let me use this medium to re-echo the position of both the government and the Queens School authority that the Covid 19 palliatives earlier kept in Queens were distributed in August and were no where in the school premises during the search process.

It may also interest the public to know that a prominent youth leader in the state and the member representing Ezeagu State Constituency, Hon. Chima Obieze was at the scene of the event that fateful day to plead with the youths to nominate people among them who would go in and search the school premises with a view to reporting back to them, but they refused.

The youths who had been brainwashed about palliatives refused all entreaties made to save the situation and insisted on entering the school as a mob which was resisted by the security

It is quite unfortunate and highly regrettable that lives were lost but I want to appeal for calm and objective understanding of the situation, while I commend the Enugu State government for initiating a process to look into the matter and pay adequate compensation to the affected families.

I pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives while I ask God Almighty to grant their families the fortitude to bear the loss. I therefore passionately appeal to those who manipulate people’s condition to achieve political ends to desist from that because power belongs to God and He alone gives it to anybody He so wishes.

Enugu is in the hands of God.

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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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