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The Compromise Of Enugu Endsars Protest By Desperate Politicians.

Published

4 years ago

October 20, 2020

By Jeff Ejiofor

A great Russian philosopher, African Spir, said that when a man makes of his personal interests the mainspring of his life and he is greedy to make use of everything that can benefit him, he naturally enters into conflict with other persons, acting also in their interests, hence the disagreements that can become a hundred years old, and drive whole generations to mutual hate. This view captures what transpired in Enugu last week when, out of desperation, some selfish politicians, determined to undermine the goodwill of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, hijacked a peaceful protest by Enugu youths against police brutality and turned it into a political witchhunt.

These self-serving elements went as far as hiring popular musicians of other extractions to mock the government and the good people of Enugu State. It is on record that the current EndSARS protests across the country have goals that have been collectively articulated by the initiators which cannot be localized by any means. The sudden appearance of some popular igbo musicians believed to be working for fifth columnists in Enugu State at the protest venue to disrupt the peace is most regrettable and condemnable.

Apparently, there is a limit to everything life, and It is obvious most of us are frustrated because of the nation’s economic challenges, but the pertinent fact we have refused to realize is whether the limited resources available to states now are sufficient enough to address the various problems of our people.

Nobody wants to consider this obvious fact. What we do is to sit down with our smartphones and ignorantly abuse those in government with so much disdain.

In Enugu State, for instance, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi came into office when the country and the whole world were in an economic recession. Unlike his predecessor, Sullivan Chime, who enjoyed excess crude oil funds and huge federal allocations, he has been doing his best to pay the new minimum wage to state workers, which most states in Nigeria are yet to implement.

In spite of all that, he has carried out numerous developmental projects especially in the rural areas which are the primary focus of his administration. He has also continued to maintain existing facilities, service inherited debt, and keep the state peaceful and secure.

As a man with a conscience, Gov. Ugwuanyi ensured that those in the rural areas, who have the population strength of the state and are unfortunately not on social media to express their joy, were given a sense of belonging.

Despite doing all these, his administration has not borrowed loans to finance projects. Even the FG bailout funds given to the 36 states in 2015 were judiciously used in Enugu and the Senate confirmed it. Enugu under Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has refused to play to the gallery by mortgaging the future of the next generation as some states like Ebonyi are doing with white elephant projects. Ugwuanyi does not want to create a problem for the next generation in the name of borrowing to finance projects that may be of no immediate economic value. He works within the framework of the current economic realities and he is achieving results.

The past governments did little in the rural areas of Enugu State in terms of development and that is the gap Ugwuanyi is diligently trying to bridge.

In this COVID-19 era, Ugwuanyi has demonstrated quality leadership in responding to the challenges of protecting the health of Ndi Enugu.

Nobody here can deny that the evidence is glaring for all to see. Enugu was among the few states that did not lose souls to security agencies at the peak of lockdown when some state chief executives exposed their citizens to danger in a bid to enforce sit at home order. Enugu is getting its first-ever Infectious Disease Hospital, courtesy Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

His only sin is that he is concentrating development in rural areas where the population constitute the silent majority. Those that were abandoned for ages and had accepted their fate.

Even at that, the rural development policy of his administration has paid off and it reflected on his reelection victory last year, which he won with an overwhelming 95.54 percent of valid votes cast. However, this his good intention to remember the poor, long-neglected and lowly, did not go down well with the youth in Enugu city whose only hobby is to post and comment irresponsibly on social media, where they express their anger freely without knowing the socio-political implications.

Nonetheless, patriotic and well-meaning Enugu youths are aware of the gimmicks, and therefore urge our amiable governor not to be discouraged, but remain calm, undaunted, and focused in his determination to maintain peace and order in Enugu State. We implore him to continue providing dividends of democracy to Ndi Enugu irrespective of the provocation from any angle. We are with him, and we remain resolutely behind him.

For those selfish and desperate politicians bent on undermining the interest of Enugu people at any slightest opportunity, the time for reckoning is near. Phyno and Flavour, who allowed themselves to be used for such an inglorious dirty outing should also know that Nigerians are wiser and will pay them back in equal measures when the chips are down. Those seeking to politicize Peaceful protest designed by the youths of Nigeria to press home our collective grievances will not go unpunished, posterity will judge them someday. They should know that nothing is hidden under the sun, people are seeing them and all what they are doing in the name of activism. What a man sows, he reaps.

Enugu is in the hands of God Almighty

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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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