The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has joined the Northern States Governors’ Forum in rejecting the proposed Tax Reform Bill currently before the National Assembly......READ THE FULL STORY>>.....READ THE FULL STORY>>
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 input from critical stakeholders.
The communiqué, 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 examined and analyzed the disturbing socioeconomic trends affecting the region, catalyzed 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 NEF’s strong opposition to this pernicious policy.
“In addition, the meeting strongly maintained that, in its present form, the Tax Reform Bill is conceived in bad faith, poorly packaged, and poses a palpable threat to our unity and national cohesion.
“The meeting also drew attention to the brazen, cavalier way and suspicious manner in which the Tax Reform Bill was imposed on the nation, without input from critical stakeholders. Furthermore, members of the National Economic Council were kept in the dark, thus confirming the sinister intentions of those promoting this outrageous Bill.”
NEF also condemned what it described as the conspicuous loss of voice on this pressing issue by the overwhelming number of elected politicians from the Northern region in the National Assembly. It warned that the era of conspiratorial connivance against the vital and strategic interests of the region—whether by those within or outside it—was fast coming to an end.
Addressing the deteriorating education sector in the country, particularly in the North, the Board-in-session raised alarm over the high percentage—now about 60%—of students in Northern Nigeria who are involuntarily unable to return to their institutions of higher learning, including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and legal studies, due to high tuition fees and unaffordable daily transportation costs.
The meeting also discussed the crisis of out-of-school children, now estimated at 20 million nationwide, with over 80% of them from the North.
“Against this troubling reality, the Board-in-session expressed serious doubt about the viability and efficacy of the much-touted Federal Students Loan Scheme as a solution to this malignant malady,” the communiqué noted.
The Board also condemned what it described as a surreptitious move by the Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals to sponsor dubious mining policies in collusion with certain political actors, aimed at stifling investment opportunities in the vast mineral resource potentials of the Northern region.
The meeting decried the condescending attitude exhibited by some powerful political actors in the region, who often behave arrogantly and disdainfully as rulers rather than leaders committed to the plight of their people.
The Board-in-session called on the people of the North to stay resolute and vigilant in defending their inalienable rights, particularly their voting rights. It urged them to resist deception through subterfuge, ill-gotten wealth, and religious manipulation by unscrupulous elements whose records do not portray them as 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 jealously guard their cherished unity, resist all unpatriotic plans by incorrigible adversaries to divide their ranks, and rededicate themselves unswervingly to the cause of the North and the nation in general,” the communiqué added.
