Featured
Nigerian Youth To Access N12.5b NYIF Before December-Minister

…As NYCN Lauds FG, Sports Ministry on Youth innovations
JOEL AJAYI
In the determination to ensure Nigerian youth are at per with their counterpart around the world, the Federal Government has revealed that Nigerian youth will begin to have access to the initial N12.5 billion NYIF before the end of December.
It will be recalled that N25 billion will be disbursed each year for the next three years, totaling N75 billion.

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Also, NYIF is dedicated to investing in innovative ideas, skills, talents, and enterprise of the Nigerian youth with the aim of turning them into entrepreneurs.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare made this known on Monday in Abuja when the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), in solidarity, march to the Minister to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approval of Nigerian Youth funds.
Youth Council applauded the Federal Government over the approval capital of 75billion NYIF saying that the initiative would go a long way to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerian youth.

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While speaking, the Minister who was represented by the Ministry Permanent Secretary Mr. Gabriel Aduda said that Nigerian youths do not lack ideas, what they lack is support to push it forward to make it a reality in which the government of the day is doing right now.
According to him, we have a lot of empowerment program and one thing we have seen with empowerment programs overtime is that it does not come with an end to end a cache that helps the youth to start as an entrepreneur.
“A lot of programs have been put in place but lack of supports has swept them under carpet, that is ministry sat down, looked and decided that this NYIF goes beyond youth empowerment.
“We decided that there is a need for us to have pots that support entrepreneurship, young businesses, and youth in their startups, that gives the environment for them to fly with their ideas and that is what the NYIF is supposed to do.
“We thank God and FG for the approval of the N75 Billion that is going to come in 25billion transit over three years between now and 2023, we have done half of this year so we are hoping that we should be able to rake in about 12.5billion from now till December and the beauty of it is that right in council President directed the CBN Governor and the Minister of finance to source for this money because of the importance of this particular setup.

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“We will work with the CBN and every relevant stakeholder that will administer the fund in a way that will bring results.”
“Most of the monies that are coming will be administered. Some, as very short loans, one of the things that we have found out is that Nigerian youths do not lack ideas, what they lack is support to push it forward to make it a reality.”
He urged all Nigerian youth to always visit the ministry website to get information about the different initiatives.
Speaking earlier, Permanent Secretary Gabriel Aduda who was represented by the Director Network and Social Mobilization for the Ministry Dr. (Mrs) Abdulai Rosemary expressed that the ministry will not relent in its effort to ensure youth are put in a firm position to be future leaders.
“Since the minister assumed office, he has shown a strong passion for the growth and development of the Nigerian youth. That is why hardily a week will go without a new development on the youth initiative to bring them at par with their counterpart around the globe.”
In his address the President of the NYCN Amb. Sokubo Sara-IgbeSokubo said FG’s initiative is a square peg is in a square hole.
“Today, hope is being restored to millions of talented, hardworking, and creative young Nigerians.
“The NYIF is a special window for the Nigerian youths to access financial facilities for their entrepreneurial ideas, innovations, and projects. This laudable milestone has shown that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has the interest of Nigeria youth at heart, and has endeared the government to the hearts of young Nigerians.
“Nigeria youths wish to use this medium to also express our gratitude to our dogged, innovative and pace-setting Honorable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, under whose supervision, the youth constituency has recorded massive positive development. Under him, Nigerian youths have experienced a breath of fresh air and hope. The truth is that; “when a square peg is in a square hole, things begin to fall into shape.”
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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