Federal Government to increase VAT to 10%? Just don't do it.

Whose idea is this? How much universal coverage has the Federal Inland Revenue Service achieved based on the current 5% VAT rate? Has the FIRS given up and chosen rather to tax only the hitherto compliant some more? That would be a disaster. 

Moreover the media is creating the false  impression that the idea of an increase in VAT rate lies within the administrative purview of only the Executive in general or the FIRS in particular. If you run out of money, just increase taxes. This is not correct. 

Taxes, any taxes, just like budgets, are based on bills passed by both houses of parliament signed into law by the President. Hence we have long way to go on this issue. Government(s) with poor record of accountability should expect strident opposition to this proposal. If the free-loading members of the House approves it, to shore up their profligate lifestyles, they would have clearly re-confirmed their anti-people stance. 

The FIRS and their beggarly state government counterparts should close all tax evasion and tax avoidance loopholes and extend the taxation net to rope in more and more people especially at the upper end. 

Finally, we must realise that taxes from the bottom of the pyramid also matter a lot because of the huge population base. The truth is that the poor(?) are often forced to pay a ruinous plethora of "taxes" and levies which end up in private pockets. Ask any Okada or Keke rider or danfo or molue driver or market stall trader or street vendor, etc. .  If only the state can get 20 to 30% of what these victims shell out routinely to the many mafia in our midst! I do not expect the mafia to give in without a fight. But fight we must. 

Telcos lament 50% revenue loss to WhatsApp, Skype, etc

See who is complaining. 

I continued reading the above story to see at which point the writer Ozioma Ubabikoh would deliver the punchline that the behemoth telcos namely MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat are suddenly on the verge of going under due to competition from outside of the cartel. Of course no such thing is about to happen. I do not see a Chief Pascal  Dozie (among many others) divesting from MTN and plowing back the proceeds into Diamond Bank! 

Simply put, the telecom operations remain an Eldorado, a goldmine, competition or not. That was exactly why a Chief Mike Adenuga saw an opening and exploited it, to the cheering approval of long suffering overcharged Nigerian consumers. Thankfully research and innovation in Silicon Valley and others across the globe ensured that there was still more to come. Hence BB-calls, Skype, WhatsApp, We-Chat, etc, etc. 

By the way, I am yet to see anyone shed a tear when the true pioneers on the CDMA platform were relentlessly pounded into the ground with nary a whimper from the government and the regulators. Engr Ernest Ndukwe and Dr Eugene Juwah are living witnesses.  

For those who are too young to remember, I hereby make a roll call of some of the dead entities: Intercellullar, Multi-Links, Mobitel, Celtel, Zoom, Starcomms, EMIS, MTS-1stWireless, VGC Communications, etc. It is quite easy to deduce why and how Tony Elumelu's Visaphone has not only survived but managed to thrive, sort of. A deep pocket?

I have just cross-checked the above list on the web-based IT Telecoms Digest. So I am not making this up. This is simply history. I had earlier briefly commented on this (sad) development from the standpoint of our non-existent Anti-Trust legislation. I had hoped that someone smarter and/or more committed than me would run with it. Sadly, nobody did. 

I was not trying to reveal anything new to either the government, the regulators or the big telecoms operators. They cannot pretend not to know that the days of scandalously large returns are over. Perhaps, the telcos will now be in the mood to finally admit ordinary folks into their stock ownership scheme, which the government foolishly(?) forgot to write into the original investment scheme. Better late than never. 

FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES: by Dr. Samuel Okafor,

The below article is by Dr. Samuel Okafor in response to Femi Fani-Kayode . Full credit is given to his authorship. I have shared it here in my continuing desire to educate the population.

FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES:

•Femi Lies About the Yorubas Being Nigeria’s Earliest Graduates:

From his myopic bubble Femi FaniKayode claims the Yoruba were the first to acquire Western education; the first ever known record of a literate Nigerian in the English Language is the narrative of an Ibo slave who regained his freedom and documented his life history as a slave from the time he was 11 years old in present day Ibo land till the time when he gained his freedom in the middle of the 18 th century. He later married an English woman and had 3 children. He died in 1795.

Femi, a basic Google-research will do you good here; check out the name, Equanoh OLAODAH. Further Femi claims that the Yoruba were the first lawyers and doctors in Nigeria. This is again a big falsehood. The first Nigeria doctor was an Effik man Silas G. Dove who obtained a medical degree from France and returned to practise medicine in 1840 in Calabar. This fact can also be verified from historical medical records in Paris.

I would also ask that you google the name BLYDEN – Edward Wilmot BLYDEN – an educated son of free Ibo slaves who by the mid-19th century had acquired sound theological education. He was born in Saint Thomas in 1832. He is one of the founding missionaries that established the Archbishop Vining church in Ikeja. Before the next time you succumb to your long-running battle with logorrhoea, Femi please do some research.

What about the third president of a free Liberia – President J JRoyle – again, a man of Ibo descent. Please take some time to do some research so that we can discuss constructively. It is wrong to peddle lies to your people. It is academic fraud to knowingly misrepresent facts just to score cheap points with people who do not have the discipline to do research and accept anything you pour out simply because they say you are well educated. To again quote the great Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz; Femi fits into the category of third rate students from first rate universities with an inflated sense of self-importance. Let’s go on!

Who was the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics – an Ibo man – Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was followed by another Ibo man, Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differentail Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant. Please do some research on this great Ibo man. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and one of the founders of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Who was Nigeria’s first Professor of Histroy – Professor Kenneth Dike who published the first account of trade in Nigeria in pre-colonial times. He was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Who was the first Professor of Microbiology – Professor Eni Njoku; he was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Anatomy and Physiology – Professor Chike Edozien is an Asaba man and current Obi of Asaba. Who was the first Professor of Anatomy at the University College Ibadan? Who was the first Professor of Physics? Professor Okoye, who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics. He was also a founding member of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry – again another Ibo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s. First Professor of Statistics – Professor Adichie who’s research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. What about the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine – Professor Kodilinye – he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war. What about Astronomy – again another Ibo man was the first Professor of Astronomy – please, look up Professor Ntukoju – he was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics.

Let’s go to the Social Sciences – Demography and statistical research into population studies – again another Ibo man – Professor Okonjo who set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early ’60s. A double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics. Philosophy – Professor G D Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953. Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo who became a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is also the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics. Theology and theological research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.

I am still conducting research in areas such as Geography where it seems a Yoruba man, Professor Mabogunje, was the first Professor. I also am conducting research into who was the first Nigerian Professor of English, Theatre Arts, Languages, Business and Education, Law and Engineering, Computer Technology, etc. Nigerians need to be told the truth and not let the lies that Femi Fani-Kayode has been selling to some ignorant Yoruba who feel that to be the first to see the white man and interact with him means that you are way ahead of other groups. The Ibo as The great Achebe said had within a span of 40 years bridged the gap and even surpassed the Yoruba in education by the ’60s. Many a Yoruba people perpetually indulge in self-deceit: that they were the first to go to school; to be exposed to Western education; that they are academically ahead of other Nigerian cultures of peoples. Another ignorant lie.

As far back as 1495 the Benin Empire maintained a diplomatic presence in Portugal. This strategic relationship did not just stop at a mere mission but extended to areas such as education. Scores of young Benin men were sent out to Portugal to study and lots of them came back with advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Portuguese Language, to name a few.

Indeed, some went with their Yoruba and Ibo slaves who served the sons of the Benin nobility while they studied in Portugal. These are facts that can be verified by the logs kept by ship owners in Portugal from 1494 to 1830. It is kept at the Portuguese Museum of Geographic History in Lisbon.

Why then would several Yoruba people peddle all these falsehoods to show that they are ahead educationally in Nigeria? The true facts from the Federal Office of Statistics on education tell otherwise, showing that 3 Ibo states for the past 12 years have constantly had the largest number of graduates in the country, producing more graduates than Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states. These eastern states are Imo, Anambra and Abia. Yet he calls Ibos traders. Indeed, the Igbos dominate because excellence dominates mediocrity – truth.

Let me enlighten this falsehood’s mouthpiece even further: before the civil war Ibos controlled and dominated all institutions in the formal sector in Nigeria from the universities to the police to the military to politics:

•The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Ibo man

•The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Ibo man

•The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Ibo man

•The police was run by an Ibo IG

•The military as a professional institution was also run by elite-ilk Ibos.

Facts can never be hidden. To be first does not mean you would win the race; let us open up all our institutions and may the best man win. Let us not depend on handouts or privileges but on heard work. Let us compete and give the best positions to our brightest – be it Ibo, Yourba or Fulani, and then we shall see who is the most successful Nigerian.

I find it difficult not to respond to some of these long-held lies that are constantly being peddled by Yorubas. One is that the Yoruba have the largest number of professors in the country. I would again ask that we stick to facts and statistical records. The Nigerian Universities Commission has a record of the state with the largest number of professors on their records and as at 2010 that state is Imo State followed by Ondo State and then Anambra State; the next state is Ekiti and then Delta before Kwara State. I am sure you Yorubas are surprised. When you sit in the South-West do not think others are sleeping but I wish to address another historical fact and that is who were the first Nigerians to receive Western education. It is important that these issues be examined in their historical context and evidence through research be presented for all to examine.

I have continued my research for as the great sociologist and father of modern sociology – Emile Durkheim – put it, the definition of a situation is real in its consequence . What this simply means is that one must never allow a perceived falsehood to become one’s reality and by extension individuals who accept a defined position act as though the situation is real and apply themselves in that narrowly defined perspective.

Why is this important to state it is because for long the Yoruba have peddled lies that have almost become accepted as the truth by other Nigerians but it is important that we lay down the facts for others to examine and come to their own conclusion for facts are facts. Let’s go back to education. Historically, Western education resulted as a product of indigenous ethnic groups interacting with the whites through trade. The dominant groups sold slaves, ivory gold and a host of other products to their European counterparts in exchange for finished goods – wine, tobacco, mirrors, etc.

The Bini who were the dominant military force from the 15th to the 19th century raided and sold other ethnicities to the Europeans. Top on the list of those they sold were the Yoruba, Ibo and Igala. Various other ethnicities suffered as a result of the Bini military expansion. And the Benin Kingdom stretched from present-day Benin up to what is now geographically referred to as Republic of Togo. Indeed, the influence of the Benin Empire extended to the banks of the river Niger to present-day Onistha. There are huge Yoruba settlements in the Anioma part of Delta State who fled Yoruba land as a result of these attacks and constant raids. Yes, there are Yoruba people who are currently living with Ibos in the Ibo-speaking part of Delta and they are full citizens of the place no one refers to them as strangers and there is no talk about the Ibos being the host community like we hear from the Governor of Lagos State. But let me return to research. Slaves were moved from the hinterland to the coast and many were sold through Eko to the New World. These slaves were the first to encounter the Europeans and by extension their way of life – this included education in a Western sense. The Bini King had taken pains to establish a diplomatic presence in Portugal and the relationship developed into areas that extended beyond trade in the late 15th century and lasted well into the early 19th century. Scores of young Bpni youth were sent to Portugal and studied there, coming back with advanced degrees in various disciplines. The next set of people to receive Western education were the slaves themselves. Some of them managed to buy their freedom and develop themselves further.

For the Ibo it does not matter who your father is; the question is: Who are you? Who was Obasanjo’s father? Was he the most educated Nigerian? I am sure the answer is no. Yet this Great Nigeria led this nation two times as a military Head of State and as a civilian President. What about GEJ? Who was his own father? Was he the first Nigerian to go to London? The answer is no. In fact, he had no shoes, yet he is fully in charge. So it does not matter if your father was the first Lawyer or first Doctor in Nigeria but rather what matters is what an individual does with the talents the Almighty has given to him. Let us open up Nigeria for competition. That is the solution to our problems. Those who want privileges keep reminding us that their fathers were the first to go to school in London. Every generation produces its own leaders and champions. Like Dangote who is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria today and the richest man in Africa. Was his father the first to go to study in London? Yet he is the master of people whose parents gave them the best. My brothers, the answer to the Nigerian problem is that we should establish a merit-driven society. “I get am before” no be property.

Dr. Samuel Okafor,

OBSESSION - RADICAL ISLAM'S WAR AGAINST THE WEST and THE REST

Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against The West.

I came across the following today on a conservative US tv network that I normally do not watch except in search of some sort of balance - NewsmaxTV.

http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/

With a little knowledge of what transpired in Europe (and the world) from the end of WW1 (1917) to the very eve of WW2 (1939), I had to force myself to sit through the documentary. As we speak, I am still plodding through a very depressing biography of late British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Against better judgement, Chamberlain had taken Europe to a new low in appeasement to Hitler. The rest they say is history.

The editors at NewsmaxTV obviously believe that the current kids' gloves handling of Militant Islam has since gone beyond the worst manifestations of appeasement a la Chamberlain. This is a case of history repeating itself. One recalls Edmund Burke's statement about good men, though many, doing nothing, with disastrous results. To quote a contributor in the documentary an Egyptian-born American, Ms Nonie Darwish, "We are strangling ourselves with our political correctness."

On my part, I observe that Nazi adventurism and militarism were ultimately defeated not by understanding and cuddling but by concerted brute force. British WW2 hero Sir Winston Churchill aptly used the imagery "blood, sweat and tears." Nothing  less would have been adequate.

That is why I am aghast at the nonchalance of the citizens of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey towards the rise of ISIS in their midst. Young men of all generations do not get to pick their own fights. They confront whatever they MUST in their own generation. At some point in time it was Ghenghis Khan, at others Emperor Constantine or Stalin. However today the challenge is ISIS.

The issue of the involvement of the United States may ultimately prove important. Currently it is still peripheral if the vast majority of the peoples of the Middle East insist on burying their heads in the sand.

I will not be honest if I do not conclude by pointing out that here in Nigeria's north-east, our compatriots, natives of that geopolitical zone, must make up their minds if indeed the Boko Haram hordes are friends or enemies. In times past  they have clearly shown us how they handle their enemies.

Re: CBN got it right - Tope Fasua

Tope Fasua sounds like a lone voice crying  in the wilderness. However that needn't be the case. If he has been in intellectual touch with  his fellow economists of whatever hue, he gave us no clue. People like Henry Boyo and Odilim Basil Egwegbara readily  come to mind, not to mention Prof Chukwuma Soludo. A critical mass of economics thinkers arguing the various available options and theories, with lesser beings like us chipping in from the sidelines, will ultimately provide Nigeria with a way  out of this mess which is a fifty year old conundrum.

I am a failed engineering designer/manufacturer and so know better that most folks what I am talking about. Tope should have realized that he was not writing for the masses. His obvious target, the elite, are already aware of most of the issues he raised. Hence he could have made his commentary brief while highlighting the opinion moulders on the two (?) sides of the divide. Who said what and on what occasion? Where was he coming from? What would Stiglitz recommend in this situation? I forgot to mention sharp minds like Ms Ijeoma's Nwaogwugwu.

It is a pity that popular and populist writers like Olusegun Adeniyi and Simon Kolawole as well as some wellknown guest columnists often get carried away once they sense the prevailing sentiment. Moving in for an overkill, they settle for  hyperbole. Old and settled facts/problems are presented as new discoveries. This is at times quite tedious. For example just last week Adeniyi "discovered" the mess in the rice sector. Excuse me!

There was a time I could not get even one commentator to support my loud call for the removal of fuel  subsidy. Now that it is "safe" to do so, the field  is patently overcrowded. What I find most obscene is the commentary  that starts with "You know, I was one of those who opposed  the removal of fuel subsidy, bla, bla, bla." Then followed by a wishy-washy effort at explaining how he/she finally came to see the light. Really? The nation cannot afford slow learners at the helm.

We have enough firewood from these various sources and more to make a roaring fire of discontent about the way things are going. Unfortunately our CBN, as structured, does not have  the necessary independence vital for the 

proper use of peer pressure and superior argument to push state policy  in the right direction, whatever that means. We cannot count on President Buhari to reason  it out. This is beyond him. However that does not mean that we should quit trying.

In conclusion, economists must talk regularly and be brutally frank with one another. We the masses  should  get to hear mainly only about the final communiques. We cannot all be inside the debates. Perhaps we have no choice but to trust them.

Re: Boko Haram - Shettima Insists on Amnesty

Governor Shettima of Borno state and a good number of the northern elite have consistently insisted on amnesty for Boko Haram. This has understandably turned out to be a highly divisive issue in the polity. It is on record that these same regional governors and their acolytes have been roundly condemned for partly fostering the Boko Haram insurgency by abandoning their primary responsibilities and duty of care  for their citizens. Is it not strange or even suspect then for them to be seen spearheading the call for amnesty?  

Yes, I can actually visualise an amnesty program for members of Boko Haram only on one premise. It has to be based on equity. It is quite conceivable bribing Boko Haram members who renounce violence, from the proceeds of their involvement in economic activities in the North or North-East. At the very least the quid pro quo should be for undertaking to desist from disrupting such activities. They cannot continue to run amock up north while expecting revenue derived from "peaceful" exploitation of petroleum in the Niger Delta, or VAT and alcohol consumption taxes, etc in Lagos and environs to be expropriated and sent up north all in the name of amnesty and peace. All the technocrats from the region should borrow a page from our former Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, abandon Abuja for a while and head back home. They are sorely needed there. They must run the risk. 

I envision a situation where ALL development projects in the far north is executed solely by northerners. Due to shortage of technical and executive capacity, these projects would take a lot longer to deliver. That should be a bonus since the erstwhile Boko Haram activists would be busily engaged for a much longer time. 

The natives of the violent North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria should realistically expect no competition for jobs from the marauding southerners. There would then be enough jobs to go round if and only if they want to work to develop their own backyard. I cannot imagine me, a son or a daughter of mine leading ANY project in the north-east now when the natives indicate absolutely no interest. Especially with some group shooting at me. Any effort that I may make to indicate that I love the citizens of the North-East more than they love themselves (do they?) Is bound to be futile. 

It is on record that the largest private employer of labour in Nigeria, The Dangote Group, has little to no presence in the North and essentially zero in the North-East. It is not because Alhaji Dangote loves his own people any less. Even Gov Shettima who is reputed to be a major investor in neighbouring Chad Republic has shown no faith in his own region. Peace is the ingredient missing. 

One do-gooder doomsday analyst, writing in the US journal Foreign Affairs, foolishly distilled the North's economic and infrastructural underdevelopment thus: Southern businessmen have refused to invest in the North-East. Really? I have been wondering if actually this pseudo-analyst has ever read about Nigeria. Anyway, punditry is cheap and a free-for-all activity. He must have spent too much time on the Washington DC cocktail circuit, where every other diplomat claims to be an expert on Nigeria.