Sadiq GulmaAs someone from Northern Nigeria, I watched with passion and growing scepticism, how esteemed Senator Ndume of Borno State said during his call-in interview on Channels TV about the new tax reform bills that they are “dead on arrival” at the Senate. He mentioned he doesn’t have to read them to know that they are not good for the North. He sounded like an erudite economist, prophet, protector of the North, and a true lover of the North. Many will agree he is and some will not. As a Nigerian Senator who is paid to read and pass bills and then comes on air to say, “I don’t need to read the bill,” this will come across as a shock to many. How it shocks you depends on the way you look at it. I saw his sensational responses to be driven by sentiments that were not backed by economic or financial information directed at the reform bills or elsewhere. He was not alone in this kind of response though.
Many other leaders especially from the North, such as the National Economic Council, also rejected the bill and requested different things: either an out-of-Senate consultation or outright change of the proposed VAT sharing formula. Without clearly pointing how the proposed bills will scuttle the development of Northern Nigeria. Out of the tens that spoke in the media, many of whom appallingly didn’t even read the bills, we could not see or hear of any figures telling us the different economic implications of the proposed bills.
On the streets, others believed the reform bills are part of a political agenda to scuttle or deter the progress of Northern Nigeria. Using a political lens to analyze all issues may not necessarily be bad for those in politics. However, northerners or interested people need to be informed with economic and financial data, figures, and projections about how the reform bills will further throw northern Nigeria into poverty. Sensational comments by our respected northern leaders, without sharing details of how it impacts the common poor northerner they want to demonstrate they are fighting for could be seen as the usual regional/ethnic card politicians like to use. They risk reinforcing a narrative of driving regionalism, sectionalism, mistrust, and lack of unity, at a very trying time our country needs us to work as one. Nigeria is already behind on ending poverty in the country and the northern part is the headquarters of it. Whenever national issues come to the fore, we seem always to be a step or two away from commenting on what part of Nigeria they think this will favour, then making that the agenda.
Beyond the northern representatives trying to show a northern patriotic spirit or is it Sir Ahmdu Bello-esque spirit, I believe the FIRS and the Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms as the main proponents or centre of attention for the reform bills could have done a better job educating Nigerians about the bills, before it gets to the Senate’s public hearing. In a sensationally political country like Nigeria where everything will be looked through political, north-south, and religious lenses, and a dicey issue like tax, the focus of educating only the governors of the states should have extended to the general public through townhall meetings, mass media, and social media. Many Nigerians were not aware of these proposed reforms as at the time they went to the Senate. Allowing proceedings to go through the legislative processes does not look like a proper consultation was wanted between the executive and the public.
Furthermore, rejecting federal or state policies without demonstrating how they affect us with data does not promote an intelligible image of the rejectors and the region they come from, in general. We have come far to know the short- and long-term implications of the reform bills using figures, data, projections, and possible implications of continuing with business-as-usual, or instituting the tax reforms. Nigerians all over need to start querying sentimental comments that seem to promote an agenda to scuttle the progress of a certain region. We must query the leaders who promote any agenda, query those leaders who are against it, and query anyone who says this bill, policy, or move is against the north or against Nigeria, to speak with data. TV and radio anchors should also do better with follow-up questions when their guests speak from sentimental points of view. Otherwise, we risk promoting a perception that our capacity for comprehension of national matters is weak and the craved unity we need to keep building to transform Nigeria will remain elusive.
This article is the first in a series I am writing on the proposed tax reforms. See subsequent posts here.
Written by Sadiq Gulma.
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