Connect with us

Featured

Kaduna State Appoints Bukola Olopade Consultants For Marathon Race

Published

on

Nilayo Sports Management Limited (NSML), Nigeria’s leading sports marketing agency has been appointed as an official for the Kaduna Marathon.

The Kaduna Marathon event also tagged “Kaduna Runs” is slated for November will attract leading international marathon runners in a bid to strengthen the state’s position as a foremost sporting venue that has produced many world-class athletes in Nigeria.

Mr. Jimi Lawal, the Chairman of the Marathon steering committee while announcing during the stakeholders meeting on Saturday said: “We have engaged NSML, an organization that has organized marathons and road races of international repute.”

He expressed confidence that engaging NSML as consultants for the Kaduna Marathon will ensure that the marathon is a success.

The stakeholders meeting which was held at the Kaduna State Government House was attended by major stakeholders involved in the planning and execution of the Kaduna Marathon. Ministries, Educational Institutions, and security agencies across the state were well represented.

Hon. Bukola Olopade, Chief Executive Officer of NSML said “We are delighted to be part of the Kaduna Marathon, kudos to the steering committee for conceptualizing this illustrious event, we are bringing our full force and expertise to execute the Kaduna Marathon and ensure that it is a resounding success.

“NSML is known for excellence and we are very confident that the race will join the league of recognized and respected marathon races across the world.”

The event which is also positioned as a unity race will showcase the dynamism and relentlessness of the Kaduna People. The state is expected to host approximately 10,000 – 50,000 people for the marathon.

It was established through the collaborative efforts of the Kaduna State Government and its partners to further showcase and promote the diverse sporting talent that abounds in the state.

ABOUT NILAYO SPORTS MANAGEMENT LIMITED – Nilayo Sports Management Ltd, is a sports management and marketing company based in Lagos, Nigeria. NSML has worked with some of the biggest names in the world of sports including World Athletics, Confederation of African Athletics, and Athletics Federation of Nigeria.

Yearly, NSML organizes several sporting events across the country, which include Access Bank Lagos City Marathon which is the biggest Marathon in Africa and also Silver labelled by World Athletics, Great Abeokuta 10km Race, Africa’s foremost ultrarace, the Valuejet IAU African Championship Remo 2019, a 50km Ultra race held in Ogun state among others.

Under the leadership of Honourable Bukola Olopade, Former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Ogun State, Nilayo Sports Management Limited has consistently delivered excellence at all races and other sporting events

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Trending

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)