Anthony Ekpo Bassey – Calabar
“First impression” they say, “matters.” On his first day in office, and in his first speech to Nigerians, Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced that: “Subsidy is gone.” As I watched him on live television, I knew that Nigerians were ushered into a tax regime. Again, I knew that he was keen on recovering his election expenses without delay. Whether or not you voted for him, you must pay. Obi-dients must pay. Atikulated must pay. Even those who never voted for him must pay. Already, we have started paying and there is no going back. Away from that, his first outing was a pointer to the future that awaits us. A future of tax and taxation without end.
As we were yet to recover from the harsh bites and pains associated with the removal of fuel subsidy, here came the hike in electricity tariff. How can you explain a situation where in less than a year, we have to pay for a litre of fuel at N600, N800 and recently N1000 as against N200? Consequently, the prices of products and services have soared and keeps soaring and only heaven knows when we would have a respite. While still gasping for breathe and yet to survive the times, we have been slammed with electricity tariff hike. This is cruel! How can you ask Nigerians to pay more for darkness? There is no commensurate value for the electricity we pay for, in this country.
While we wait to see if that would really come to be, the cyber security level was enunciated by same government to emasculate us. This is one, too many! Buhari had killed us. Tinubu would bury us. Pinned and pained in all of these, is the solemn silence from our respective senators and members of House of Representatives whom we sent to go and speak for us and defend our interests. Who sighs?
Sadly, in all of these increments, our income level has remained the same. How does Tinubu expect us to pay the litany of taxes? Personally, I am not against taxes. In fact, it is one of the legitimate means government earns revenue to cater for the needs of its citizenry. Presently, what is the common man enjoying from the government in Nigeria? Absolutely nothing! The roads are in a deplorable state. Our public schools are not equipped with the needed human and material resources for effective learning. Our hospitals are ill-equipped. There are no drugs there. There are no adequate medical personnel there. For sake of poor remuneration and worsening conditions of service, our doctors have left in droves for greener pastures. The few left behind are processing their papers to leave. What exactly is government doing with all the taxes collected overtime? Nigerians including I, have not learnt to trust the government with our taxes because there is nothing to show for the ones we have been paying even in recent times.
Give us steady power supply. With it, we can generate adequate income to pay taxes, produce more goods and services beyond local consumption and even export to increase our foreign reserves and strengthen the naira. With it, we can employ many young people and decongest our society of crimes and criminalities. Furthermore, equip our hospitals. Let us save our countrymen including you, of medical tourism abroad. Equip our schools and invest in the future of our young people.
Construct new roads and reconstruct the old ones. Revamp the rail lines for easy transportation of persons and goods in macro forms. Let us begin to see the reforms. When you do, you would not need to coerce us to pay tax. We would voluntarily pay. Trust us!
Also, provide adequate security for the liberty of your people and for investments to thrive in your country. The killings and kidnappings that were rampant in the administration of your predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, also characterise your administration. There is no clear difference. Same old story! This should occupy your mind more than anything else because nothing thrives in an era and area of insecurity.
Also, bitter to note that you cannot give out what you do not have. How can you be taxed multiple times when your income level remains the same? It sulks and it is really suffocating. We need to breathe at least one for once. That is, if Tinubu may not tax the air we breathe.
Anthony Ekpo Bassey, PhD is a public affairs analyst.