Connect with us

Featured

Minister Tips Wrestling For Olympic Glory in Tokyo

Published

on

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare while hosting the Bayelsa state Commissioner for Youth and Sports  Dr. Daniel Igali on Tuesday assured Nigerians of Olympic medal haul in Wrestling.

According to the Minister “If we’re sure 0f a Sport that would fetch us medals at the Olympics it is wrestling, considering the fact that the federation had done so well.

“The Wrestling Federation under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Igali Vision, dream, and focus are in line with our plans and we are sure that the likes of Blessing Oborodudu and Odunayo  Adekuroye would win medals at the Olympics.

“It gladdened our heart when you were appointed  Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development because we believe that once we have seasoned athletes like you in this position, we are sure that you will get on the same page with the policy of the Federal Government on youth and sports Development.

“For us, that is a plus and we believe that in the next four years as Commissioner, you will work closely with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in line with our Vision of grassroots Development,  Partnership with the private sector and state governments. I also want to thank you for speaking to the Adopt Initiative. We were already on an accelerated pace to get as many athletes as possible adopted before COVID-19 slowed us down.

“ Some of those that promised to adopt was also affected because their company was shut down and there was a general downturn. We have picked up again and I recall clearly that you are also a product of adopting initiative in Canada where you actually hit the peak of your performance. We hope that this adopt initiative is something that has a sustainable model to support our athletes other than the Olympics”.

“We celebrate you as an Olympian, we salute your effort to ensure that you share that podium with other Nigeria wrestlers which are why one of our greatest hope of medals at the Olympics is Wrestling among the eleven sports that we have chosen. We can almost take it to the bank that we would get a medal from Wrestling due to your leadership, discipline, and professionalism. We hope we can sustain the tempo till next year so that our Athletes will have podium performance.

“Let me also say that we have 32 sporting Federations supervised by the Ministry. Without mincing words, I think the Wrestling Federation remains one of our best federations. I can see the connection between having a leadership that is purposeful, that is collegial, democratic, and not unilateral, respect the code of governance and the constitution set by the board. You can see the connection with what happens with the quality of the athletes and I hold the Wrestling federation as one that we want to have a constructive relationship with the Ministry. We also want federations where the leadership pays attention to the welfare and the development of its members particularly the Athletes.

The Minister congratulated Igali on his appointment as Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development in Bayelsa State.

In his own remark, Igali thanked the Minister for his giant strides in the last one year since assuming Office

Igali solicited the Minister’s support to vie into the office of the World wrestling body, partnership with the Bayelsa State Government and plans to organize the maiden edition of the Bayelsa State  Sports Festival.

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 :)