Alleged sabotage: Army should probe Zulum’s claim — Kontagora, others

Nigeria army headquarters

A former military administrator of Benue State, Col. Aminu Isa Kontagora (rtd), has urged the Nigerian military to investigate the allegation by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State of sabotage within the army structure.

The governor, after his convoy was attacked by suspected Boko Haram members in Baga on Wednesday made the allegation.

Zulum, Shettima attend eid prayer in Maiduguri

Attack on Zulum: Sack service chiefs now, Reps urge Buhari

But the army spokesman, Col. Sagir Musa, on Friday, told Daily Trust that it was already investigating the incident.

Reacting to Zulum’s comment in an interview with Daily Trust, Kontagora said:   “This is the second time the governor is accusing the military of sabotage since he assumed office, I remember the first time was when they stopped people from entering Maiduguri and insurgents killed over 80 people.”

He said the military should get to the root of the matter.

“They should investigate his claim. I know it is not likely to come from the military because the insurgents will always want to prove that they are still on the ground but the military will have to investigate what actually happened.

“The insurgents and soldiers have understood each other’s tactics so well.

“And because the insurgency has gone rural with the insurgents having friends among locals such an attack is possible.

“More so, because of the way the insurgency has gone it is possible for the insurgents to get information from the governor’s convoy.

“In any case, the insurgents will always put up acts like that to show that they are still on the ground. I don’t think the attack on the governor was from the military,” he said.

He added that the war was not expected to go on time but soldiers also need to fight like the insurgents.

“Destroy their bases and get their leaders to weaken their attack,” he said.

An international terrorism and development consultant, Dr. Amaechi Nwokolo, also said the allegation of the governor should not be swept under the carpet.

He said the governor raised a position that had always been emphasised by some people, adding that sabotage within the military structure should be taken seriously.

“He (Governor Zulum) is right to a great extent because we have been crying out about this sabotage and fifth columnists but we are seeing it playing out seriously. So, it is not far from the truth,” he said.

“The other issue about sabotage is one thing that we have been talking about in a very long time because the man was very sure about what he was saying.

“He had an argument with an officer and the man said it was not Boko Haram that was shooting,” Dr. Nwokolo said.

He said the governor would be the first person to mobilise the people against terrorists should he go ahead with his plans to mobilise hunters and members of vigilante groups.

“To a great extent, I think that this thing has happened before.

“The people were mobilised against al-Qaida in Algeria, so it is not a new thing if the people decide to rise against the terrorists.

“What is the number of the terrorists compared to the people as he (Governor Zulum) said,” he said.

He said the comment of the governor as regards mobilisation of hunters and vigilante was “very heavy and deep and I know that there is nobody that can defeat the power of the people.”

On whether the statement won’t affect the morale of troops, he said, “The morale of the troops is already down, he has tried, even after the attack, he still made some donations.

“The morale of the troops has already been dampened,” he said.

Zulum speaks on attack

Governor Babagana Zulum had expressed displeasure with the Army over the attack on his convoy by those suspected to be Boko Haram gunmen in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.

He survived an ambush by gunmen while on a trip to Monguno and Baga towns to distribute food to IDPs.

Speaking with the army’s commanding officer in Mile 4, he wondered why the army had not been able to secure Baga despite the number of troops deployed for over a year.

“You have been here for over one year now, there are 1,181 soldiers here, if you cannot take over Baga which is less than 5km from your base, then we should forget about Baga.

“I will inform the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy the men to other places that they can be useful,” Zulum was quoted as saying.

“You people said there’s no Boko Haram here, then who attacked us?”

Also reacting, the Northern Governors Forum through its chairman, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, described the attack as “callous and reprehensible.”

Lalong’s statement which was signed by his spokesman, Makut Macham, said the attack was to frustrate the governor’s efforts towards reducing the sufferings of IDPs.

Army probing attack—Spokesman 

The Nigerian Army yesterday said it had commenced an investigation into the attack on the convoy of Governor Babagana Zulum.

Army spokesman, Colonel Sagir Musa, told Daily Trust that the army wanted to reassure the general public that this would be interrogated with a view to forestalling future occurrence.

“Although, details of the unfortunate incident are sketchy and under investigation, efforts are ongoing to comb the area where the incident occurred with a view to tracking down and dealing decisively with the attackers.

“An investigation is also in progress to identify the circumstances that led to the attack.”

He said, “Regrettably, this is an isolated and most unfortunate incident that occurred in a territory where normalcy has since been restored with socio-economic activities picking up.

“Additionally, the Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that it will continue to discharge its responsibilities professionally with respect for the fundamental human rights of all Nigerians and in compliance with the extant rules of engagement.

“The good people of Baga town and indeed the entire Borno State are enjoined to continue to provide credible information that will assist the security agencies to successfully combat terrorism as well as apprehend and flush out the perpetrators of the attack,” Musa stated.

Buhari again charges service chiefs

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday told service chiefs that they could do much better despite the fact that the military, the police and other security agencies are currently working hard.

Buhari, who spoke to Nigerians shortly after performing the eid prayers with his family and aides at the State House, Abuja, assured that there would be more resources for the country’s military, police and other security agencies to deal with the security situation in the country.

“We are making available resources to them to even do better….from the reports I am getting, they could do much better…they could do much better.

“But we are keeping them on the alert all the time to do their duties,” the president said this while reacting to a question on the performance of the service chiefs which he recently said needed to get better.

Buhari described the situation, particularly in the North West and the North Central parts of the country as “very disturbing.”

He said while much had been achieved security-wise from the situation he inherited in 2015, more still needed to be done.

“Nigerians know that we have done our best. However, what is coming out of the North West and the North Central is very disturbing,” he added.

He said all past and present cases would be fully investigated.

“This is why we put the commission (of investigation) in place. There has been abuse of trust by people trusted by the previous administration and this administration,” he said.

He stressed that all such cases would be uncovered and firmly dealt with by his government.

On the Niger Delta, he decried the wastage of the resources earmarked for the people of the region.

He said that corruption had been unhelpful in that regard, especially “if you recall there is the 13 per cent derivation.”

Sack service chiefs now—Reps Minority caucus

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the service chiefs over the attack on Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Zulum.

“The caucus in a statement signed by the House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, urged the president to implement the recent resolution passed by both chambers of the National Assembly asking him to sack the service chiefs.

Elumelu said the caucus was alarmed by the Thursday attack, adding that the incident had again reinforced the urgent need to review the nation’s security architecture.

“The worsening security situation in the country under the current service chiefs has reached an unbearable state to the extent that insurgents have the temerity to attack an armed convoy of a state governor.

“This is more so with the insistence by Governor Zulum of a compromising security system in the area, allegedly creating an opening to the attack, a position that validates the call for immediate reorganizing of the nation’s security architecture.

“The entire nation is distressed by the incessant mindless killing of our citizens and pillaging of defenseless communities by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers, which have brought indescribable agony, anguish and torment to innocent Nigerians.

“We the opposition lawmakers hereby in the strongest terms restates the call to President Muhammadu Buhari to honor the resolution of the National Assembly and immediately remove the service chiefs and bring in new hands to effectively confront the security challenges confronting our nation,” he said.

How floods consumed 30 in Gwagwalada,

A collapsed house near the river bank in Dagiri, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT

Last weekend’s floods in Zuba, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT, and Suleja in Niger State left many residents wriggling in pain and lamentation.

While the Zuba flood claimed a woman and her four children in Giri community, Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the death toll in Suleja has risen to 24.

Buhari speaks on EFCC, NDDC probes, decries worsening security situation

FCTA presents relief items to Gwagwalada flood victims

Relations and neighbors of the victims who spoke to reporters in Zuba expressed shock and sadness. They said the woman, whose apartment was close to the waterways died with her four children after the heavy flood submerged the apartment and other houses.

They said before a rescue could come, the flood had already swept them away.

A neighbor, Mrs. Grace Uche, said the deceased who had lived in the apartment for over a year after separating from her husband, was always jovial with neighbors.

“I didn’t know that the woman had separated from her husband until that day the incident happened, after which the Ebira chief came to the scene and I overheard some of her kinsmen discussing it,” she said.

Neighbors of the other two persons who died in Anguwar Paka Zuba said they were sleeping when the flood suddenly submerged the house and swept them away.

A neighbor, Ibrahim Aliyu, said the parents of the children had traveled to the eastern part of the country before the incident.

The village head of Kaura Quarters, Mr. Bako Ndazhaga, said contrary to reports that 30 people were missing, four people were missing while one death was officially recorded there. He said those missing and the dead were from the same family.

Bako said one person was found dead while the other four including a woman and her three children were missing while expressing fears on their survival.

Another resident of the area, Mr. Simon Baba, said the rain forced the resident to stay indoors, and the flood submerged the Gwagwalada Bridge and a hotel and destroyed properties.

Another resident, Ibrahim Shaibu, said the flood which started around 2am on Saturday took over a petrol station and swept away a truck loaded with petrol.

The village head of Dagiri, another affected area, Alhaji Saidu Muhammad Ndako, said many houses close to the river bank were destroyed.

The chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, who visited some of the affected areas, urged community leaders to make arrangements to get people out of flood-prone areas.

“We at the local government level will do our best to provide urgent palliatives because the incident has created havoc,” he said.

Minister orders removal of houses on waterways

Reacting to the incident, the Minister of State for FCT, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, ordered the management of the FCT Development Control department to remove houses on waterways across the council.

Speaking when she visited some of the affected areas on Wednesday, she said the flood was a result of building houses on waterways.

She donated relief items to the chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, for distribution to the victims.

The Director-General, Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Alhaji Idriss Abbas, said: “Gwagwalada was flooded from Giri. A family of five was affected at Giri.

“We rescued six people and they are in hospital. The flood has damaged a lot of houses and property, especially at Gwagwalada,” he said.

Victims at the mercy of relatives, neighbors in Suleja

People affected by the flood in Suleja have turned to relatives and neighbors for temporal shelter, just as the death toll is reported to have reached 24, according to our reporter.

It was gathered that 10 people are yet to be found after the heavy flood swept the area Saturday following an early morning rainfall.

Unguwar Gwari, a community under Rafin-Sanyi District on the outskirts of the town was reported to be the worst hit, with the loss of seven persons, including five from a single-family.

At Rafin-Sanyi community, 10 people were reported to have died. Our reporter on Thursday went around Unguwar Sunday, Polosa and Unity wards, all within Rafin-Sanyi community

A resident, Sunday Nnamani, said he was sleeping when his attention was drawn to screams from his neighbor’s apartment.

“The next thing I saw was my phone rolling in the water, so I immediately got out of my room which I discovered was flooded all over, and I don’t know how I escaped,” he said.

A shocked Nnamani added that it was thereafter that he understood that the incident took the lives of his neighbor, a pregnant woman and two children within the compound. He said he is now squatting in a nearby house as he doesn’t have anywhere to go or money to look for another place.

Mr. Wilson Williams stands where his building was cut by the flood

Mr. Wilson Williams stands where his building was cut by the flood

Another woman close to the house identified as Mai-Kifi, was also said to have died along with two of her daughters. At Immaculate Street just across the stream, another woman popularly known as “Calabar” died with her two children and another boy who lived with his parents in the compound.

Another person died around Poloso area of Rafin-Sanyi, bringing the number of deaths in the area alone to 10.

Many residents faulted the claim that their compounds were marked, maintaining that they were only suddenly told that the houses would be pulled down after the flood disaster in 2017.

The village head of Rafin-Sanyi, Malam Zakari Madaki who acknowledged the visit of some government officials to the area after the incident, put the total casualty figure within the area, and that of Unguwar-Gwari where he supervised as Wakili, to 22.

Daily Trust on Saturday gathered that two other children died around Living Faith Church in Madalla, a neighboring community, just as a woman’s body was seen floating in the river around Chaza community, all within Suleja Area Council.

Man who lost wife, 4 kids grateful for the empathy

The man who lost four children and his pregnant wife, Mr. Obioma Thank God, expressed gratitude over visits from dignitaries that included the state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, and the Emir of Suleja, Malam Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim.

He said apart from the condolences, the governor spoke to him at length, including how he got his land allocation for the destroyed house.

“The governor then told me he would get back to me while directing the chairman to communicate to me later. The same issue was raised by his highness, and after I answered him, he said I should try to meet him at the palace. I am still hoping and waiting, believing that something positive would come from them,” he said.

He added: “But is there anything positive that can come out more than my children? I think there is nothing like that in this world. They were my great assets and treasure, my best friends, all my trust is to God, that is the only one who can make the impossibility to be possible, and I handed everything to him.”

He said the stream that passes behind his house was previously a tiny one but kept expanding.

“It was a piece of wood that was used as a bridge across it, to tell you the size then.”

Speaking on how he got the land, Obioma said he bought the allocation paper from somebody who got the offer and proceeded to the area council where he got the necessary documents after verifying it to be genuine.

“It was when all the buildings within the old barracks were marked that our private buildings were included, but not because of their locations, as we were made to know then.

“We then approached the area council with our documents where they accused the previous administration of allocating lands at the wrong places.

“But all along they secured us after a kind of understanding and went ahead to demolish all buildings within the barracks. So it’s not right to come out now to blame us,” he added.

But while Obioma was lucky to get a visitation from prominent persons, others including a woman who lost her two children are yet to be that lucky.

Our reporter who also visited the area heard that as a result, the names of the affected people are yet to be captured as claimed, as according to them, no government official has so far visited them.

“A neighbor of the woman there, who lost two children, Christopher Acham, said a woman known as Majesty lost one of her children after a wall fell on him.

Building destroyed by the flood

“Two others were pulled by the flood, one died and the third one was rescued,” he said.

He said while the mother of the two deceased children relocated to her sister’s home in Gauraka town along the Abuja-Kaduna high way, her husband relocated to his brother’s house in Madalla.

He said no government official visited them for any documentation, let alone donating any relief material to them. The same story was given by another victim of the flood, Wilson Williams, along with other victims.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) recently released the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) report, where it stated that Nigeria was expected to have rainfalls, ranging from 400mm in the North to over 3000mm in the South.

It predicted a total of 28 states for “highly probable flood risk” and that the flooding could affect a total of 102 local government areas across the 28 states while another 275 local government areas are categorized as “moderately probable flood risk”.

The states predicted to experience severe floods include Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Enugu, and Anambra.

Others are Imo, Abia, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Osun, Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Lagos, Ondo, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Abia, Kano, Kebbi, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, torrential rainfalls in the last few weeks have led to serious floods in many states, such as Lagos, Delta, Niger, and the FCT, with consequent loss of lives and properties, while many people were reportedly displaced.

Fayemi recovers from COVID-19

Gov. Kayode Fayemi

The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi has recovered from COVID-19, 11 days after testing positive for the infection.

The governor announced his recovery Saturday morning via his official twitter handle @kfayemi after testing negative.

The tweet reads: “After 11 days in isolation, I received news that my COVID-19 repeat test came back negative.

“My sincere gratitude goes to God Almighty, my family, my medical team, and all well-wishers for the prayers and solidarity.

“We must continue to do all we can to tackle the pandemic.

Recall that the governor announced on July 22 that he contracted the novel coronavirus infection.

However, after a few days, the infection hit some members of  his cabinet as commissioners and other aides tested positive.

The affected persons include the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, who announced his status Sunday evening, while others remain unnamed.

Speaking during the COVID-19 Task Force media briefing in Ado-Ekiti,  the Commissioner for Health, Dr Mojisola Yaya-Kolade confirmed that the Attorney General and some unnamed members of the cabinet had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ekiti.

Dr. Yaya-Kolade, revealed that as a physician it was against the ethics of the profession to disclose the identity of COVID-19 patients but said, “those who tested positive have the liberty to announce it on their own.”

“As you are aware that the commissioner for justice announced his status on twitter and I can tell you that there are other members of the cabinet that are also positive but I must say that they are at liberty to disclose or keep to themselves for the obvious reasons”

Court dismisses case against Senator Abbo after he was filmed slapping a nursing mother in a sex toy shop

A Magistrate Court in Zuba on the outskirts of Abuja has dismissed the case of assault against Senator Elisha Abbo.

Abbo, the lawmaker representing Adamawa-North, was seen assaulting a woman named Osimibibra Warmate in a viral video. Afterwards, the Nigeria Police Force instituted a case of assault against him.

The assault caused outrage after the video went viral and the lawmaker apologized to his victim in a televised press conference.

A Magistrate Court has now dismissed the suit for lack of diligent prosecution by the police.

The Magistrate, Abdullahi Ilelah, who upheld a no-case submission filed by Senator Abbo, said the police failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the lawmaker indeed assaulted Osimibibra Warmate on May 11, 2019.

This is despite a video recording showing the assault play out and another video showing him apologize to his victim.

During the trial, two witnesses testified against Senator Abbo and they are Warmate who was the nominal complainant and a police officer, ASP Mary Daniel, who investigated the matter.

In her testimony, Warmate said she had gone to visit a friend, Kemi at Pleasure Chest Sex Toy Shop, Banex Plaza, Wuse 2, Abuja on May 11, 2019, when the lawmaker walked in with three women.

She said one of the women that accompanied Abbo started vomiting and later fainted.

Warmate said when she left the shop, she received a frantic call from the owner of the shop asking her to come to her aid as the lawmaker had accused her of fouling the shop’s air conditioning system that caused one of his female companions to vomit and was threatening to get her arrested.

The victim said when she returned to the shop and was cleaning up the vomit, two men - one of them a policeman in uniform - barged into the shop and assaulted them on the orders of Senator Elisha Abbo.

The court had on July 8, 2020, granted bail to Senator Abbo in the sum of N5million and the sureties must have verifiable addresses within the Federal Capital Territory.

The Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District was granted bail by a Senior Magistrate Abdullahi Ilellah.

This was after the lawmaker was arraigned by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police at Zuba Magistrate Court, Abuja.

Buhari has delivered 2015 campaign promises – Gov Bagudu

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has said Nigeria is now better because President Muhammadu Buhari delivered the three cardinal promises he made during the 2015 campaigns.

Bagudu said this in his Sallah message on Friday in Birnin Kebbi.

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According to him, the security situation in the country is better than when Buhari took over as president.

He added that because of a sustained fight against corruption, accountability had significantly improved.

He said Kebbi was a testimony of the prevailing peace in the country, noting that the state could be adjudged one of the peaceful states in Nigeria.

“Security agencies are making increasing efforts to ensure that there is peace in the country.

“Currently, there is no territory under the control of insurgents.

“Buhari has also succeeded in turning the economy of the country around as he promised,’’ he said

Multiple taxes, bills choke Nigerians amidst pay cuts, pandemic.

Multiple taxations, bill hike, and salary cuts are fast becoming the new normal to business owners and workers in Nigeria.

This was further compounded by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing the turnover level of businesses and affecting the income level of individuals, amidst job losses.

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Despite the hit from the pandemic, scores of workers and entrepreneurs who spoke to Daily Trust Saturday have decried the unabated rise in ‘forced’ taxes being levied on their struggling businesses. They also lamented the effects of these tariffs on their pockets as their residual and business income have declined in the last four months rather than appreciate.

In February 2020, the Federal Government raised the VAT from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. The 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) immediately activated that on the bills of over 10 million registered electricity users.

Despite this, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was to increase electricity tariff by over 50 percent in April but was cut short due to the COVID-19 emergence. It tried that again in July but met resistance from the National Assembly; it’s been suspended till 2021.

However, NERC increased the cost of buying meters by consumers who are already crying over high and unfair bills. The regulator justified this, saying meter providers and the DisCos had faced forex and inflation rise with a single phase meter now selling for N48,263 while three-phase is N89,069.

A proposed two months free electricity for Nigeria by the National Assembly to cushion the pandemic effect on power tariffs was jettisoned over bleak implementation means.

Levies, bills pressing us harder – Workers

A microfinance banker in Lagos, Mr. Aderemi Oluyemi, said the government was insensitive to the plight of the people especially during COVID-19 when it is supposed to give palliatives to the people and that its action was putting pressure on the economy.

“For the past four months, there has been a 20 percent cut from my salary, yet the government is increasing the burden. Even the prices of food items are rising day by day, the cost of transportation in Lagos is very high particularly with the social distancing directive of the government,” Oluyemi said.

A staff of Air Peace airline, Mr. Kabiru Ojo, said he suffered over 40 percent pay cut as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and can’t meet up with his responsibilities. However, rising taxes and tariffs stare him in the face.

A journalist, Biola Yusuf, said his national newspaper was affected. “I have no salary from my employer, yet we work round the clock and we have families and ourselves to cater for. It is really a terrible situation,” she lamented.

An Abuja-based Agribusiness Intervention worker, Damilare Agbele, lamented the impact of multiple taxations on his overall earning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My salary is primarily taxed (without any evident socio-infrastructure benefit enjoyed). I pay VAT on items purchased and services procured. Banks charge stamp duties on transactions and other unexplainable deductions on transactions,” he said.

Agbele also said prices of products and services (food and transportation especially) have increased considerably and at the end of the day, one is left with almost nothing to live on.

On coping with salary cuts, an aviation sector worker, Arhel Hena, said he got 80 percent salary cut due to COVID-19 effects.

“I also had to manage to pay my rent which was due in May. I would have been out there with people. It wasn’t funny at all. Aviation is the worst hit, as I know some companies that are also struggling to pay a token to their staff,” he said.

Business owners share pains

Another group of people impacted by multiple taxations is the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) especially as President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Finance Bill in February which, among others increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) from five percent to 7.5 percent.

A 2020 survey released in June on over 1,600 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) owners in 29 states revealed that the multiple taxes and levies remain a bane for tax-paying businesses in Nigeria, especially MSMEs.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey showed that 49% of SMEs pay 20 to 40 percent of their income or profits on taxes and levies, while 28 percent of businesses pointed out that the Local government charges, taxes and levies were the most difficult to comply with. The survey covered over 1600 business owners across 29 states.

A shoemaker and CEO of Shoespeed Interglobal Services Limited in Lagos, Abiodun Folawiyo, said in developed countries like Italy where SMEs have electricity, good roads, access to funding and more, people do not mind when the government charge exorbitant taxes because entrepreneurs know what the government will do with it.

“But in Nigeria, the money they collect from us, you hear that someone stole N30 billion. So, the tax they collect is not being translated to good use to provide infrastructure.”

Folawiyo said the government should give SMEs tax holiday instead. “They should declare a tax holiday for us and not tax us. The government should make Ease of Doing Business more attractive for us and foreign investors.”

The CEO of Dolphin Restaurant and Catering Services, Nneka Agbo, said consumers feel the impact of any tax.

“Basically, when we pay more taxes, the increment will directly be transferred to customers such that it will impact on their perceived earnings and savings. However, the downturn for registered businesses such as ours will be that customers will now prefer to patronize substandard and unregistered eateries.”

COVID-19: CBN intervenes with N1trn, effects persist

The aggregate interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak is N1.15 trillion from which it has disbursed N295.7 billion to manufacturers, the health care sector, the SMEs, and the households.

These interventions comprised the N50bn Household and SME facility, the N100bn healthcare and N1tn manufacturing and agricultural interventions to support the rebound in growth from the impacts of the pandemic on the economy.

There is also the CBN coordinated CA-COVID – Private sector intervention scheme – which mobilized over N32bn to support the economy, lives and livelihoods.

Despite this, our survey shows the effects of the pandemic reflected in multiple taxation, salary cuts still persist.

Entrepreneurs, experts condemn incessant levies

Experts, manufacturers and other stakeholders in the Nigerian economy have condemned the incessant levies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them believe that key taxation that impales the pockets of Nigerians should have been shelved off during the pandemic until economic activities fully recover.

Mr. David Aku, an Economist based in Enugu said it made no sense troubling citizens with so much taxes, levies charges, stamp duties and so on during a pandemic where the purchasing power is crippling.

He also urged the FIRS to suspend the six percent stamp duty on tenancy agreement till 2021 when the economy is projected to recover.

The National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, said the tax system depletes returns on investment and subsequently triggers business collapse.

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) in its Quarterly Economic Review for Q2 of 2020, called on the Federal Government to suspend all increases in taxation and tariffs until the economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it commended the suspension of the planned tariff hike, ABCON urged that the same decision should be extended to other taxes.

The embarrassing ways some of the taxation laws are enforced are the concern of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). The association said these taxes are characterized by the use of stickers, mounting of roadblocks, use of revenue Agents/Consultants including motor-park touts.

The Acting Director General of MAN, Ambrose Oruche said: “We have situations where a taxpayer is faced with demands from two or more different levels of government for the same or similar taxes.

“A good example here is the administration of the VAT and Sales Tax simultaneously. The same level of government imposes two or more taxes on the same tax base like the Companies Income Tax, Education Tax and Technology Levy by the same company,” he said.

Samson Simon Galadima, a Financial Economist, said the government has been angling for ways to shore up its revenue even before the salary cut.

“That’s how the Finance Act came about; however, the fall in the price of crude oil on the international market has made it the more urgent. Furthermore, the coronavirus-induced recession has worsened things.”

Also, Muhammad Ali, an Economics Lecturer at Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, said revenue generation was receiving negative shock arising from the effect of the pandemic.

Ali called on the government to impose more tax on luxury items as this would not have an effect on prices of commodities that are necessities or goods and services that are mostly consumed by the poor masses.

On her part, SME Consultant and DG of Global Centre for Human Development and Entrepreneurship Development (GLOCHEED), Rose D. Gyar, said the government should not always rush to impose tax, instead it should block leakages.

“This will positively impact on tax collections rather than impositions that would possibly lead to closure of businesses and subsequently increase the number of unemployment,” Gyar said.

The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) had introduced a hike in VAT, stamp duty on tenancy pact, among others. The agency did not respond to this paper’s enquiry on the tax rebate it would provide for SMEs and other affected sectors of the economy. The Director of Communication of the Service, Abdullahi Ahmad, promised to get back to our reporter but did not a day before this report was filed.

‘I always top my class despite being blind’

Lucky using his computer with the aid of JAWS

Lucky Pastor lost his sight at age 12, but that didn’t stop him from achieving his set goals. He completed his secondary school education in a public school as the only blind student in a class of 200 sighted children and emerged the best.

In the university, he was also the only blind student in his class but still emerged as the second-best student. Lucky, who never allowed his situation to deter him from achieving his goals, shares his experience and how he hopes to be successful in life. Excerpts:

Buhari has delivered 2015 campaign promises — Gov Bagudu\

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Daily Trust: What was your experience like in school with the sighted?

Lucky Pastor: Determination! First, I enrolled for a rehabilitation programme in the FCT School for the Blind Children. There, I had all the attention I needed because we were only three in my class. If I wasn’t getting it right, my instructor would put me through. By the time I finished from there, I was ready to mingle with the sighted world and I continued school at the Government Secondary School (GSS) Kwali.

While there, I was in the art class and we were over 200 in the class. Nobody had my time; I had to do extra work to be able to fit in. I was determined, and I graduated as the best student.

I gained admission to study English Education at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). Going to a public school wasn’t easy. I stayed in a hostel and shared the same toilet with everyone else. When there was water scarcity, I would rush alongside others to fetch water, sometimes when I want to use the toilet, everywhere would be messed up and I would just have to manoeuvre, to do my thing and leave. Sometimes, I would find myself in a gutter because the drainage system was very poor. During lectures, at times, classes would be filled to the brim and I would have to stand outside to listen to the lecturer but in all, God kept me and determination propelled me.

In my class, I was the only visually impaired person. In my first year, people saw me as “that boy who needs help”, but from my 200 Level onwards, “they were running to me for help”. Interestingly, I taught my colleagues. This was possible for me because I already knew that I do not have sight, so, I needed to be extraordinary and do twice as much as they could. By God’s grace, I graduated in 2019 as the second-best student.

DT: How did you study and write exams in school?

Lucky: In the university, when a lecturer comes to the class, sometimes they give hardcopy materials, and at other times they send a soft copy. With no special preference given to me, I was not discouraged. I told myself that I would not use ‘braille’ meant for the blind. I began to use an application that Visually Impaired Persons read with; it is called JAWS, which means Jobs Access with Speech. With this program, you have a narrator that reads everything you have on your screen. I read my handouts and textbooks with it when handouts are given in hard copy, I would have to scan first and copy to my laptop, which turns it to a soft copy for me to be able to read. I can also browse, fill forms, and do anything online.

During an examination, some lecturers permit the visually impaired to use their laptops, while others do not permit probably because they feel the VIP will use some shortcuts to cheat during exams. In my case, I decided not to use my laptop. I do not like people doubting my ability. If I had used my laptop during exams in the university, they may think I made my As through short cuts in my laptop. I made use of a manual typewriter all through my university days to write my exams. While others wrote with their pen, I typed on my typewriter.

DT: Is there any difference in how you perceived the world when you were a child and now?

Lucky: If I were to judge the world by what I saw back then, I would not have much to say about the world. However, if I am to judge the world by what I can see with my inner eyes right now, I would say, I know life is not a bed of roses, you have to keep pushing. For me, the world is an imbalanced sphere where you just have to live right. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, but I have a strong conviction that I would break through all these obstacles; I will be a great man even though I don’t know how, when or where.

DT: What were some of your frustrations at some moments?

Lucky: When I go to church and everybody takes turns to read Bible verses, I would be skipped because I’m blind. I kept asking myself, ‘how do I get included’? I trained myself on how to read from my laptop with the JAWS program and I got included in the Bible reading session. My frustrations turned to fulfilment.

DT: What are your aspirations?

Lucky: I passionately desire to be a lecturer. Since I am based in Abuja, I hope to lecture at the University of Abuja. Secondly, I hope to train Visually Impaired Persons on how to read from a computer so they can be included in the society, even if they want to be broadcasters, lack of sight wouldn’t be a limitation.

I live for people; to put a smile on faces and to impact lives. I understand that apart from being blind, deaf or crippled, there are myriads of challenges people face. I run a program on Facebook titled ‘Braving the Storm’. I write episodes when the inspiration comes so others can get inspired.

DT: What lessons have you learnt from being visually impaired?

Lucky: One striking experience I have learnt from being blind is ‘Focus’. This might sound contradictory but I can give you an example. When I was in school, I had a female friend and we go to the market together. Before going to the market, we write a list of items to buy. But when we get to the market, other items not on our list will always attract my friend. She would ask for prices of at least three stuff before we commence shopping. I kept telling her ‘Ada be focused’! I don’t get distracted but Ada does because she can see. I tell her, ‘Eyes are distractions’. Blindness has taught me to be focused even in the face of challenges because I know there is a goal to be achieved. I have also learnt not to put blames on my visual impairment; I don’t let people pity me if I try something and fail. It’s not because I can’t see, it simply because I don’t know how to do it. I always advise everyone to face difficulties as they come, enjoy the good times as they come, and be good to people