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GOV. IFEANYI UGWUANYI: THE DOYEN OF PEACE

Published

4 years ago

September 24, 2020

By Jeff Ejiofor

It is Nelson Mandela that said; “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, then he becomes your partner”.

Enugu State since its creation in 1991 never had it so good in terms of peace as it has today. The peace being witnessed under the current leadership of Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is unprecedented in the annals of our history as a people. This has led to the recent well deserved appointment of the governor as a peace ambassador by Global Society for Anti-Corruption. (GSAC). The appointment is no doubt a perfect reflection of the current reality in Enugu State.

Unarguably, never in the history of Enugu State had any government fostered so much peace and enduring unity among the citizens where all political actors work together as it’s being done today. Various testimonies from Enugu leaders of thought including the clergy have confirmed this assertion.

Evidently, former governors of the state, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Dr. Senator Chimaroke Nnamani as well as clergymen, Archibishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, and a host of other leaders had all eulogized him for providing the platform for unity, peace, and harmonious existence. They commended him for entrenching peace, tranquility, and good governance, in a manner that has never been experienced before. They further described him as a man of history and expressed delight that he has united everybody in the state irrespective of political leaning. They averred that the culture of peace and good governance he has instituted in the state is fundamentally unprecedented in the history of modern Igbo political leadership.

According to the former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, since 1999, he had not spent up to 2 weeks in Enugu State, but recently, he has spent 6 uninterrupted months in the state because of peace and security instituted by the Ugwuanyi administration. Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo on his own part stated that Ugwuanyi has done remarkably well in the area of peace, and added that this is the first time, since the current republic, a regime is providing peace within the party and across party lines. Senator Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani while corroborating the above positions, declared that Ugwuanyi has appropriated justice, equity, and fairness to all, which has, in turn, ensured enduring peace and stability in Enugu State.

Interestingly, even the clergymen were not left out of these outpour of encomiums on the governor. The Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, said that Ugwuanyi’s penchant for peace is unparalleled, and has made Enugu State experience outstanding peace where everybody, irrespective of creed, class, or religious affiliation is given equal treatment. Also, the firebrand catholic priest and spiritual director of Adoration Ministry, Emene, Rv. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, described him as a rare gem, and God-fearing leader who has continued to lead Enugu State on the part of peace and progress, with uncommon zeal, passion, and humility, even after his re-election for the second term in office. The newly elected chairman of CAN, Enugu State Chapter, Rev. Emmanuel Ede, also lent his voice and commended the governor’s peaceful disposition which he said has re-positioned Enugu as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.

Undoubtedly, Ugwuanyi is the first governor of Enugu State to enthrone and preside over a state with unmitigated bi-partisan cordiality and mutual relationship among the three arms of government. He equally achieved exceptional consensus between the government and the organized labour, which brought enduring industrial peace in the state. The usual internal wranglings within the government are completely absent in his regime. He made sure no organ or tier of government is in conflict with another since the inception of his administration. In short, the peace currently in Enugu State is akin to the PEACE that passeth every understanding, the PEACE of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, and it’s unprecedented in the history of Nigerian politics.

Apparently, with all these testimonies coming from different segments of the society, it’s abundantly clear that Gov. Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi is an enigma, an epitome of peace, and embodiment of love. The recent resurrection/reunion of the Ebeano political family which saw to the reconciliation of sworn political foes in the state was indisputable evidence. Among those reconciled were two former governors, Chimaroke Nnamani and Sullivan Chime. This historic peace accord reached under the auspices of Gburugburu is a major political breakthrough that demands our collective accolades to him. A feat no political leader in the history of Enugu State had ever attempted. No wonder the no-nonsense Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka described him as a sanctuary of conflict resolution.

Ugwuanyi is indeed a gift to Wawa nation as espoused by the President-General of Enugu State Development Association (ESDA), Chief Elechi Onyia, who said his identification of the principles of love, unity, and peace among the political, religious, and traditional institutions as one of the cardinal dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of Enugu State is unimaginable and highly commendable.

In a nutshell, Enugu is lucky to have a leader like Gburugburu who cherishes peace, unity, and love as fundamentals for good governance. Those in doubt of the veracity of peaceful co-existence should ask the citizens of states where there are political wars, they will surely and continually sing Gov. Ugwuanyi’s praises for being a peace lover and ambassador.

Indeed, Enugu is in the safe hands of God!

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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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