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Lack of Motivation From FCTA May Hamper Team FCT Preps For 2020 NSF

Published

5 years ago

November 29, 2019

If nothing tangible is not put in place for the Athletes that will represent the Federal Capital Territory at the forthcomg 2020 National Sports Festival in Edo, state, the team FCT may take the back position.

It is no longer news that Team FCT in the past two national sporting events, broke records as they achieved their best podium finishes in two different national sporting events.

But as for the case of the forthcoming event in Edo, there is no preparation insight as FCT Administration is yet to approve fund for the athletes to start preparation.

First was at the 2018 National Sports Festival, NSF hosted by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports at the FCT, Abuja.

Team FCT recorded a podium finsh of 7th, the best ever record it has attained in the festival.

In 2019, the younger athletes followed the path of their elder ones by recording a podium finish of 9th at the recently concluded 5th National Youth Games, NYG in Ilorin, Kwara state.

These two podium finishes placed FCT as the best sporting state in the entire northern zones of the country.

Ordinarily, one had expected that the Team FCT athletes or rather contingents to these two national sporting events should be treated as heroes and heroines. Unfortunately, this was never to be.

While other states which did not measure up to Team FCT’s heroics accorded their contingents befitting recognition, the Minister of FCT has decided to ignore, abando and neglect theses great achievers.

Facts emerged that Team FCT at the events were the most neglected and least motivated side. And this was made possible by no less a scenario than lack of release of funds by the FCT Minister.

Like Michael Phelps pointed out, these athletes faced obstacles. People doubted them but with hard work, they hard no limits in what they achieved.

Faced with this total neglect by the FCT minister, Mohammed Bello, who had won the Best Minister Award recently in the country due to his prudence in managing resources and returning unspent budgets to the federal coffers, many of the athletes who represented Team FCT at the two competitions have switched allegiance to other states.

FCT has for the past few year lost over 30 athletes to other states due primarily to lack of motivation and the inability of the FCT ministry to apply reward system for the athletes.

Some of these athletes who spoke over the development were full of regrets for “wasting their time” with Team FCT.

One of the athletes who currently competes for Delta state after leaving FCT in 2018, was furious over the neglect he suffered while competing for Team FCT.

He explained that the two states – Delta and FCT cannot be compared with when it comes to taking care of athletes’ welfare both during and after competitions.

“To be honest with you, I wasted my time competing for Team FCT. They do not know anything about reward system. Reward system is most effective in sports and any administrator who fails to implement this policy does not want his athletes to succeed.

“I competed for Team FCT from the National Youth Games to the National Sports Festival but the motivation was never there. They do not motivate their athletes.

“In most of the competitions, funds meant for them were released weeks after the competitions. Athletes are not taken care of. They compete hungry, abandoned and most times the minister does not see the need to host these athletes after events.

“How do you want them to perform for you in the next edition? This is not acceptable.

“I switched to competing for Delta because I lost interest in representing Team FCT year in, year out yet without recognition.

“What will it cost the FCT minister to host the athletes who did wonderfully well at the NSF and NYG respectively and appreciate them for their efforts?

“Sports is an investment and if you are not ready to invest heavily, you will never be there. That is why you cannot compare Delta State with FCT when it comes to investment and athletes’ welfare.

“Delta won the NSF in Abuja last year they also won the NYG in Ilorin this year and going by the way they are taking care of their athletes, no state will challenge them in Edo next year, ” he said.

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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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