Featured
We will never abandon our sporting icons again – Buhari

The President, Muhammadu Buhari administration has assured all Nigerians, especially sportsmen and women, that the country would no longer abandon past heroes and heroines. The President mentioned this in his speech at the unveiling of Nigeria’s 60 Sports Icons, one of the events scheduled to celebrate the country’s diamond jubilee, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Friday.
The President said the recent re-categorization of sports from recreation to business was targeted at ensuring professionals benefit fully from their talent and hard work.
“Today’s event is the beginning of deliberate and sustained efforts to correct the errors of past neglect of our sports heroes and heroines,” President Buhari said. “We would continue to lend the necessary support to the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development towards the actualization of the dreams of our sportsmen and women.
“The recent re-tagging and approval of sports from mere recreation to business is an attestation of this administration’s commitment to ensure that sports are used to the maximum benefit of the athletes and our economy. Sports without a doubt have the potentials to create job opportunities for our teeming youths, take them off the streets and grow our gross domestic earnings.”
In his speech, the President traveled down memory lane, recalling some historic feats by past sporting icons.
“Historically, our great country has a rich sports culture dating back to the empire games when the colonial masters used sports as a vehicle of recreation and fostering of unity. The inherent talents of young Nigerians blossomed in our schools in the pre-independent era and exploded with the exploits of talented athletes like Sam Igun who put Nigeria on the sports map with his gold medal feat at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, Emmanuel Ifeajuna also made a tremendous impact shortly before our Independence. How can the history of our sports be written without a mention of the legendary Teslim Thunder Balogun, Ogan Kid Bassey, Dick Tiger, and Power Mike, who won world titles in boxing and wrestling? Who can forget the exploits of the goalkeeping wizard Inua Rigogo, Sam Okoye, Olawunmi Majekodunmi among others?”
“As a country, we have a responsibility to not only recognize these icons but to celebrate them to inspire the younger generation to attain greater heights. From that first Olympic medal win in Boxing by Nojeem Maiyegun in 1964 to the Nations Cup win in 1980, 1984, 2013 to the feat in Atlanta 1996 to the Eaglets feats at the Under- 17 World Cup, Nigeria is a force in the comity of sporting nations. We must harness these talents to the development of our dear nation.”
The President reminded the nation that the talents that abound in those earlier periods were anchored on the die-hard Nigerian spirit, resilience, and patriotism of the great sports heroes and heroines.
“Once again, I salute the courage, determination, and patriotism of these great icons. While there are others out there who are not listed among the chosen 60 sports icons, be rest assured that your labour and love for Nigeria is not in vain,” he said.
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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