Tax Reform, Revenue Generation Drive: Freight Forwarding Expert Tackles FG On Lack Of Foundation To Attain N1trn Economy
By Raheem Ibrahim
A freight forwarding expert, Dr. Oluuwasegun Musa has criticized the policy of the tax reform of the President Bola Tinubu led administration and its revenue drive agenda, saying that it is only a government that cannot task its brain, that tax the pockets of individuals.
Dr Oluwasegun who is also the Group Managing Director and CEO of Widescope Group of Companies and Global Transport Policy News, who made the declaration also posited that the government lacks the foundation to attain its targeted one trillion naira economy.
Speaking further, the maritime magnate reasoned that the one trillion naira economy target pronouncement by the federal government is a mere political statement.
Addressing the new executive members of Association of Maritime Journalists Of Nigeria (AMJON) during a courtesy visit in office on Thursday, Dr. Musa emphasised that the government must change the dynamics of its economy to attain its set target.
Dr. Musa, a cerebral freight forwarding guru, security expert and Deputy National President, Air & Logistics, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders ( NAGAFF), stressed that the government is killing the economy rather than developing it.
According to him, “Firstly, what we’re doing presently is killing the economy, not building the economy. If you look at all the existing policies now, they are policies that kill economy, none of the policies drive and grow economy.
“Number two, we don’t6 have any barometer to measure that the intention of government will actually advance the development of the economy. There’s no barometer to measure it. So we operate on what we call theoretical agenda that is far from reality. You know, when you put something on black and white, and you’re just reading to the public without any action backing it up, It’s just hypothesis that whether it will work or it will not work-trial by error method if you like”.
“There is no country in the world that developed through taxes. It is only a government that lacks capacity to think that resorts to taxation because taxing the people is the laziest way to raise revenue”, he added.
While commenting on the single window revenue generation Policy of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the astute freight forwarder said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) handling the project lacks the required integrity.
He opined that the project would have best been handled by a committe of state and non- state actors with maximum integrity to superintend over it for best results.
He said, “On the single window policy, I’m happy to be one of the pioneer non-state actors that attended the training when it came to limelight in Guadalajara.
“And at that forum, after the training, the media engaged us to seek our opinion as at that time, Customs were pushing to pretending to do the right. And I was a lone voice. I told them that this platform, with what we’ve been taught, on the integrated platform which we refer to as Single Window; we cannot allow Customs to superintend it. Wale Adeniyi who was NPRO then said, I should have supported Customs I said, no, I don’t support what is wrong, Customs does not have integrity to spread the right unless we want to deceive ourselves.
“And if truly we want to develop the economy, we must tell ourselves the truth, regardless of whoever is going to hurt. So I said, no, we can’t. And we wrote a lot of petitions. We’ve been on it for quite a long time. Government now handed it over to Federal Inland Revenue Service.
“Unfortunately, the Federal Inland Revenue Service do not also have the integrity. So what we’ve proposed to government now is to have a committee of the state actors and non-state actors with maximum integrity to superintend over it. And that’s the only way we can convince the international community that we’re serious. Because the first thing the international community will do when you are bringing such idea is to check the background of the private sector or agency or ministry or whoever is going to be superintending over it.
“If there’s a question mark, they will lose interest. The world has advanced beyond the day of when you read rhetorics and you tell people about your stone-white information. nobody listens to you.”
The freight forwarding guru stressed further, “Government now handed it over to Federal Inland Revenue Service. Unfortunately, the Federal Inland Revenue Service do not also have the integrity. So what we’ve proposed to government now is to have a committee of the state actors and non-state actors with maximum integrity to superintend over it.
“And that’s the only way we can convince the international community that we’re serious. Because the first thing the international community will do when you are bringing such idea is to check the background of the private sector or agency or ministry or whoever is going to be superintending over it.
He remarked, If there’s a question mark, they will lose interest. The world has advanced beyond the day of when you read rhetorics and you tell people about your stone-white information. nobody listens to you”.
