To me the people enjoying the spoils of this dispensation are the politicians, trade union leaders, their friends and relatives. The rest of us are trying to keep up with the high standards set by the harsh policies of government. When you expect the trade unions - represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress-NLC; Trade Union Congress-TUC; and affiliates like NUPENG, PENGASSAN, to bare their fangs on matters concerning the welfare of workers and poor Nigerians, you find them holding the short end of the stick.
Both states and federal pensioners are dying without receiving their gratuities and pensions due to them. Government agencies and parastatals are short-changing workers with the minimum wage laws; you cannot even talk about the private establishments. It is only when it concerns their personal interests that you see them declaring all forms of strike actions.
Unionism is not only about strikes, threats, and blackmail. It is supposed to be a win-win for all parties involved. That is why they will never win the war against the Dangote Refinery, because they supervised the gradual grounding of our national refineries. They did nothing while the refineries were being run aground and advised successive governments on the failed path. We do not have principled men there anymore. These ones are swaying to the machinations of groups of businesses and political interests.
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Every union is supposed to have an intellectual arm which should regularly be scrutinising the policies of government and see how they will affect the members and the society at large. These union leaders always take retroactive actions. They wait too long for government to pass laws before reacting with unnecessary threats and disruptions to industrial peace. They should have anticipated the actions of President Bola Tinubu, looking at his antecedents in Lagos State as it concerns taxes.
While patriotic citizens like Blakey Ijezie, Chartered Accountants, were busy organising pro bono seminars on the coming tax laws, our labour leaders were fiddling like Emperor Nero.
I quote Blakey here in his inaugural seminar: "We should really open our eyes and focus on this audacious fiscal policy and tax reforms programme of President Bola Tinubu. If we ignore making our inputs to the working, when he starts implementing the recommendations... we will definitely start another round of lamentations ". This warning was giving as far back as month of November 2023. Not one of our labour unions took notice; it is now that we are all waking up to the realities of our situation. Now that the Nigerian state has succeeded in passing through the tax bills into laws, there is nothing that the complacent Nigerian people can do anymore about it unless government decides to relax in its implementation. It is unfortunate that when the tax was considered, nobody took interest in the details. It is after the whole thing has been completed and done that we are now beginning to see hidden taxes here and there that, if implemented will cause a lot of problems or inconveniences to the people.
Tax is a two-way thing between the government and the people. If the government is showing the capacity to meet up with the expectations of their responsibilities, there will be no need for all of these. If the government is providing infrastructure that is helping the people to get business going on, that is, helping free movement of goods, fixing the railways, and the others, there will be no problem. If there is constant electricity, businesses will thrive; small businesses will be able to do their job; everything will be okay. But they have not done that.
So, the tension, the suspicion, and the distrust between the people and the government are there. If you continue to ask them to pay more taxes, they still feel that the money will be frittered away by those in authority. So, that is where we stand presently. The trade unions have given notice that if the five per cent petroleum or petrol tax is implemented, they will go on strike. The aviation sector owners have said that it will adversely affect their businesses if that aviation tax is implemented. The communication tax has been quietly withdrawn by government, which was already affecting the people through their data usage and phone calls.
There are so many things that have not been explained to the people about these tax laws. For example, in the issue of withholding taxes, companies are expected to deduct that from suppliers and service providers at source. Business operators like the mechanics, welders, and small suppliers will be expected to render tax returns on such transactions; most of them have no bookkeeping records. Some people are saying they should go to the banks to register, and so on and so forth. Businesses have been asked to provide evidence of maintenance from all these small businesses that do not have tax records.
So, it is going to be a complex lot of situations that the government is going to cope with from January 2026 when the new tax law begins. What is the issue here? It is very important for us to see and note the mood of the people at this time. Everyone knows that our tax laws are outdated and need to be reviewed and be done in a way that will ensure equity, justice, and fairness. That is what every tax law requires. If we are to do this in our own case, it must reflect this aspect of it.
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On the coming tax laws, have they covered every angle of these basic requirements? That is the issue. The little increase in revenue that has come to the government so far, what have they done with it? Are they trying to remediate the challenges of the ordinary man, the poor man who cannot afford two square meals in a day? What is happening? Why is the country prospering, revenue growing, and the per capita income is increasing, but the people not feeling it? That is what we are worried about.
If the implementation of the tax laws is not properly handled, it may lead to the people being unable to cope with the unintended effects. So, government must look at the implementation and ensure that it will plunge the people into further anguish. It is time for our people to start enjoying the benefits of two years of waiting in hope and renewed hope.
