Northern Elder Forum (NEF) has joined the Northern State Governor’s Forum to reject the proposed Tax Reform Bill which is currently before the National Assembly.
In a Communiqué issued at the end of the Second Bi-Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees of NEF, the Forum alleged that the Bill was imposed on Nigeria without the inputs of critical stakeholders.
The Communiqué which was signed by the Convener of NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi reads: “The Board-in-session comprising diverse groups of eminent leaders, seasoned technocrats and prominent entrepreneurs, exhaustively x-rayed and analyzed the disturbing socioeconomic trends enveloping the region, catalysed by the introduction of dangerous, discriminatory and anti-northern governance approaches, calculated to stunt the growth, prosperity, and stability of the region.
“In particular, the meeting unanimously endorsed the patriotic stand taken on the raging national debate about the Tax Reform Bill by the Northern States Governors’ Forum in conjunction with the Northern Nigeria Council of Traditional Rulers, just as it reaffirmed the NEF’s strong opposition to this pernicious policy.
“In addition, the meeting seriously maintained that, in its present form, the Tax Reform Bill is conceived in bad faith, poorly packaged, and it is a palpable threat to our unity and national cohesion.
“The Meeting proceeded by drawing attention to the brazen cavalier way and suspicious manner in which the Tax Reform Bill was imposed on the nation, without allowing the in-puts of critical stakeholders, even as it kept members of the National Economic Council in the dark, thus; confirming the sinister intentions of those promoting this outrageous Bill”.
NEF also condemned what it described as conspicuous loss of voice on this burning issue by the overwhelming number of elected politicians in the National Assembly from the Northern region, and warned that the days are fast gone, when such conspiratorial connivance against the vital and strategic interest of the region, either by those within or outside the region, would be condoned or even tolerated.
In consideration of the deteriorating situation in the education sector in the country in general and the North in particular, the Board-in-Session raised alarm over the high percentage, now about (60%) of students in Northern Nigeria, who involuntarily were not able to return to their institutions of higher learning, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and legal studies, due to high costs of tuition fees and unaffordable daily transportation to and from schools.
The Meeting also discussed the explosive crisis of out-of-school children, now estimated to be 20 million in the whole country, of which over 80% come from the North.
“Against this troubling reality, the Board-in-session expressed serious doubt on the viability and efficacy of the much-touted Federal Students Loan Scheme as a panacea to this malignant malady”, the Communiqué noted.
“The Board-in-session unanimously frowned at the surreptitious move being masterminded by the Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals to sponsor dubious mining policies in collusion with certain political actors, with the sole aim of stifling the investment opportunities of the huge mineral resource potentials linked to the vast Northern region.
“The Meeting spiritedly decried the prevalence of condescending attitude being exhibited by some powerful political actors in the region, who more often than not, behave arrogantly and disdainfully like rulers rather than leaders fully committed to the plight of their people.
“The Board-in-session, urgently called on the people of the North to stay resolute and remain vigilant in defence of their inalienable rights, particularly their voting rights, and to desist from allowing themselves to be deceived yet again, through subterfuge, use of ill-gotten wealth and religious manipulation, by some unscrupulous elements, whose records did not portray them to be persons of integrity, character, and probity.
“In conclusion, the Board-in-session, reaffirmed its strong appeal to the entire people of the North, to continue to jealousy guard their cherished unity and resist all attempts and unpatriotic plans by incorrigible adversaries to divide their rank and to unswervingly, rededicate themselves to the cause of the North and the nation in general,” the Communiqué added.
