Featured
I AM READY TO SERVE MY COUNTRY.

By Akin Bolarinwa.
Beauty Mohammed Idiado is a well known name in Nigerian Gymnastics and currently rave of the
moment in far away Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national Gymnastics coach.
Blessed with excellent gymnastics career that spanned over 35 years in Nigeria and across Africa, the ex international and super Gymnastics administrator is now the beautiful bride of Gymnastics in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The elegant stallion conquered in the domestic scene for over three decades before moving abroad to contribute her quota to the development of sport worldwide.
The Bachelor’s Degree holder in Theater Arts and a certified coach with the Nigeria Institute of sports is a medalist at the All African games and holder of the National records in Gymnastics as champion for over 30 years and still counting.
Adorable Beauty Idiado stated her readiness to take up the plump job of the head coach of the Nigeria national team and stakeholders believe she has the best track records in Gymnastics as a Coach to earn her the most coveted job in Nigeria.
After a glorious career in Gymnastics, the veteran gymnast and FIG certified coach with intimidating profile says she is the perfect person for the job of the Nigeria Gymnastics national team coach because she has garnered experience competing around the world both as an athlete and as a coach.
Worried about the dearth of talents in gymnastics in Nigeria, the much travelled coach with a national certificate in Physical Education (NCE), opined that a lot need to be done to reclaim the nation’s lost glory in gymnastics.
Coach Beauty Idiado Mohammed who has tremendous experience training young gymnasts and preparing them for the future ahead of international tournaments has nurtured and groomed many young talented gymnasts both home and abroad to become world champions at various international competitions.
Even though she has been described as a super talented coach with the magic wand, the Edo born tactician says she is not putting her gauntlet down until she sees Nigeria gymnasts win medals at the Olympics.
Her opinion about leading a Nigerian team someday hasn’t changed at all, the award winning coach who is on the employment of the Edo State sports council says she is ready to offer her self in service if called upon to serve her father land.
Coach Beauty, popularly called Star Coach is on a two (2) years sponsorship for Gymnastics coaching course courtesy of the Gymanastics sports club in Saudi Arabia and she has already hit the ground running learning and teaching.
The soft spoken coach declared, “ I have been in circulation for more 30 years now and I am one of the best Gymnastics coach from the continent of Africa but Nigeria is my country and I will never turn my back on my country even with the opportunity to serve in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia present itself” .
Business
Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

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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