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Nigeria Can Only Overcome Insecurity With Massive Job Creation For Youths – Achama

Published

2 years ago

August 29, 2023

Chairman and chief executive officer of Zoe Group of Companies, Engr Stephen Akpa Achama has posited that Nigeria could only overcome the hydra headed security challenges facing the country for over a decade now, through massive job creation for the citizens, especially the youths.

The real estate guru, who made his position known during an interaction with newsmen in his office in Abuja recently, noted that there could be no tranquility in any society where majority of the able-bodied citizens were unemployed or under-employed.

Achama reiterated that in its efforts to help in checking the burgeoning unemployment rate in Nigeria, Zoe New Dawn had offered thousands of Nigerians both direct and indirect employments.

He therefore appealed to government to also assist the company where necessary, in order to offer more Services to the country and the citizens, especially in the areas of affordable accommodation and employment.

“We employ more than 1,000 people here everyday and we pay them daily for their job, and it’s something government should be proud of by giving us more land and also partner with us to make house affordable for everyone.

“We have other estates in Guzape, Lugbe and Katampe with one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom and four bedroom; and you can own a house as cheap as N10 million and you can pay on installment within 24 months,” he said.

The philanthropist, who has empowered many women and the youths across the country with various skills and household items, informed that his company aimed to make life easier for the citizens, especially on the issue of housing.

“Part of our aims is to impact into people’s lives and not profit making. And the agenda is not only in Abuja but across Nigeria, and our portal is open for marketers and it attracts 5% of each plot,” he hinted.

On the issue of building collapse and professionalism in the real estate sector, Achama noted that buildings still collapse in the country due to the use of fake materials, as well as wrong mixing.

According to him, “One should consider the ratio of sand to water, the right requirements for cement ratio to sand and water while building, so that where one was meant to use the ratio of 10 bags of cement to a specified amount of sand and water, he would not use five.

“If you do not get the right choice of materials and use the right mix, then the load-bearing capacity will be very low and cause a strain on the building. For instance, you might be required to use 10 bags of cement to 50 wheelbarrows of sharp sand, 10 wheelbarrows of stone dust, then you decide to use five bags of cement to the ratio. You will not get the right strength of the material and the moment you don’t do it up to standard, the weight will be very low and as you go up, you intend to load to that particular strength and when you load it like that, there is no way the building will not collapse.”

On what could be done to mitigate recurrence of such tragedy, he advised estate development firms to adhere strictly to the professional ethics.

“For us at Zoe New Dawn Nigeria, before we have you work with us much, we evaluate and confirm your certificate; you know people go to site based on experience by probably hanging around construction sites for awhile without having the technical knowledge needed. In some cases we go as far as verifying from the university that you claim to graduate from on the authenticity of your certificate and professional bodies like Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, and other professional bodies before considering you for employment.

“We are resolute in ensuring we investigate and go to any lengths to ensure we have the right engineers for our jobs. We do this by taking a step forward by writing to schools and the appropriate bodies that give certificates to ensure that certificates presented are genuine,” he added.

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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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