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The Federal Government, through the National Automotive Design and Development Council, says it has put in place the necessary structures and frameworks to begin the manufacturing of 10 essential vehicle spare parts locally. It said this move will help reduce the country’s dependence on spare parts imports which currently gulps $1bn annually. The NADDC Director
Controversial artiste, Habeeb Okikiola, aka Portable, is usually in the news for the wrong reasons. And, that played out again when he allegedly escaped an attack. In a video posted on social media by iam_sexyshey during the week, a man caught with a locally-made pistol could be seen sitting on the ground with bloodstains on
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Controversial artiste, Habeeb Okikiola, aka Portable, is usually in the news for the wrong reasons. And, that played out again when he allegedly escaped an attack. In a video posted on social media by iam_sexyshey during the week, a man caught with a locally-made pistol could be seen sitting on the ground with bloodstains on
As controversies over the Tax Reform Bill continue unabated, a group under the auspices of the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has expressed dismay over the development, cautioning the North to drop sentiments held towards the bill. Recall that the Tax Reform Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly, has been generating diverse
Tax Reform Bill: Northern elites should be concerned about adding value to products
As controversies over the Tax Reform Bill continue unabated, a group under the auspices of the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has expressed dismay over the development, cautioning the North to drop sentiments held towards the bill.
Recall that the Tax Reform Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly, has been generating diverse reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians, with the northern elites mostly opposing its passage.
The group, comprising intellectuals drawn from the media, including public and private sector players, regretted that opposing voices were causing distractions and hindering the economic attributes of the bill, particularly in terms of revenue generation, enterprise development, and enhancement of citizens’ purchasing power.
While addressing a press conference in Abuja at the weekend, Ahmad Sajoh, a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Adamawa State, criticized the North for opposing the bill, lamenting that their fears were mostly unfounded because they had failed over the years to add value to what they produce in the region.
To buttress his position, he said the blood generated from the slaughter of cows is the best by-product for producing fish feed in the world, but it is wasted daily in Nigeria.
According to Sajoh, most of the fears being nursed by the northern elites regarding the bill are baseless, lamenting that the majority of them don’t have empirical arguments to support their opposition to the bill.
He linked their worries to the initial fears most Nigerians had when the issue of state police was being mooted, but it has since been endorsed by a majority of stakeholders because of the level of insecurity in the country.
His words: “I think that as a northerner and as somebody who has been in the state executive in the northern state, I can tell you very categorically that the fears of the northern governments are unfounded.
“It is premised on the very wrong notion of a northern Nigeria that does not want to support productive activities. The chairman told you very clearly that it is about value addition.
“If the North had agreed that as northerners and as northern governors and northern governments, what we would do within a certain period, for example, is first and foremost to add value to the products we have, even if they are just agricultural.
“You take a cow, for instance. If a northern state government can establish an abattoir that slaughters a thousand cows a day and processes it into meat, once you create a channel through which the blood gathers—blood of a thousand cattle—if you process it, it can be used for so many other things.
“The bones are valuable. The horns are valuable. The hooves are valuable. The skin—if you add value to the skin—when I was growing up, we had a Tumsa factory in Maiduguri and another factory in Kano where they produced shoes, bags, belts, and others. If they could only learn to begin to add value to the products we have, they would not even worry about value-added tax or any other tax for that matter, because the North is rich.
“Nasarawa State has just established a lithium processing factory. Kaduna is doing the same. So they should begin to think about adding value to the products that we produce in the North. They should begin to think about productive engagement, not what is going on. So I don’t think there’s any need for us to begin to fear.
“In any case, the major fear was that if you transfer money in your bank in Yola or Sokoto or anywhere, the bank goes to the bank headquarters in Lagos. But this law did not say that.
“For the telecom companies, they are ICT-compliant. You can track every call you make to a particular location. So all these fears are unfounded.
“Just like the other fears, the fear of state police is based on a misunderstanding of the term policing. Policemen are different from policing. What Amotekun is doing is policing. What JTF is doing in Maiduguri is policing. What the Zamfara and the Katsina people are doing is policing. What LASTMA is doing is policing.
“A lot of these things are based on hysteria. ‘Ah, the North is going to be cheated.’ If you sit down and ask them, ‘Okay, tell me what are the areas that the North will be cheated,’ Wallahi, they will not tell you.”
Corroborating Sajoh, Chairman of IMPI, Omoniyi Akinsiju, observed that the furore generated over the proposed sharing formula for the proceeds of VAT as contained in the bill is the typical expression of the hangover from the era of squabbling over who gets the lion’s share from the revenue so generated.
According to IMPI, what should be of paramount concern to Nigerians should be to innovate and create a symbiotic fiscal relationship between the state and the people in a win-win situation.
Tax Reform Bill: Northern elites should be concerned about adding value to products
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, has predicted thunderstorms from Monday to Wednesday across the country. NiMet’s weather outlook released on Sunday in Abuja envisaged localised thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi and Zamfara states in the northern region during the morning hours. According to NiMet, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Zamfara, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kebbi,
NiMet predicts 3-day thunderstorms from Monday
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, has predicted thunderstorms from Monday to Wednesday across the country.
NiMet’s weather outlook released on Sunday in Abuja envisaged localised thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi and Zamfara states in the northern region during the morning hours.
According to NiMet, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Zamfara, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kebbi, Adamawa, and Taraba states during the afternoon and evening hours.
In the North Central region, the agency said localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Niger and Kwara states during the morning hours.
It added that later in the day, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kwara, Kogi, and Plateau states.
NiMet further stated that localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, and Ondo states in the southern cities during the morning hours.
The agency anticipated localised thunderstorms over parts of Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Imo, Enugu, Ekiti, Edo, Ebonyi, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom states later in the day.
For Tuesday morning, NiMet said localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Taraba, Adamawa, Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states in the northern region.
It forecast localised thunderstorms over parts of Adamawa, Taraba, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Borno and Gombe states later in the day.
According to NiMet, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Plateau and Nasarawa states during the morning hours.
In the afternoon and evening hours, it predicted localised thunderstorms over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Plateau, Nasarawa, and Niger states.
In the southern cities, localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Delta, Edo, and Ondo states during the morning hours.
Later in the day, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Ogun, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Lagos, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.
The agency predicted morning localised thunderstorms over parts of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kebbi states in the northern region on Wednesday.
It envisaged localised thunderstorms over parts of Taraba, Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, and Kano states.
In the North Central region, localised thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Plateau, Nasarawa and Kogi states in the morning hours.
Later in the day, localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Niger, the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Benue states.
Localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states in the southern cities during the morning hours,” the agency said.
According to the agency, localised thunderstorms are expected over parts of Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Cross River, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Bayelsa states later in the day.
NiMet urged residents to avoid flood-prone areas as there could be a high likelihood of urban flooding in major cities due to heavy downpours and strong winds might precede the rains in areas where thunderstorms are likely to occur.
It urged the public to stay informed through its weather updates.
It also advised airline operators to get airport-specific weather reports (flight documentation) from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.
