Can I know my offense?
FG wants business owners to start paying taxes for air, existence, and survival.
Good morning, Big Brains. Guess who woke up to a credit alert? Not me, I woke up to fuel scarcity and lots of work. When does it really end?
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1,000
Reading time ~3 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
FG is drinking the tears of business owners and cashing out from tax collections
Akwa Ibom governor kinda wants to transfer the First Lady role to his daughter
Cholera is spreading…again
The Big Daily
FG is drinking the tears of business owners and cashing out from tax collections
Do you think you have problems? Wholesale and retail traders in Nigeria are now paying 49% more in taxes than they did last year according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It doesn’t get more problematic than that.
NBS also dug deeper and found the culprits behind the tax hike – Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT) collections.
CIT is currently set at 30% and targets the profit of corporations. Meanwhile, VAT—set at 7.5%—is the sneaky little tax added when you buy goods or services. This is what’s driving that 49% increase in tax revenue traders are dealing with this year.
T-money’s administration raked in ₦185.19 billion from these tax collections in the first quarter of 2024 alone which makes the ₦124.39 billion that was made in the first quarter of 2023 look like rookie numbers.
We also zoomed in on the data and found out that VAT collections didn’t just grow—they skyrocketed by 50%, rising from ₦63.24 billion in the first half of 2023 to ₦94.76 billion in 2024. Clearly, Tinubu has a thing for collecting anything that starts with ₦.
Why is this a big deal?
“Yesterday’s price isn’t today’s price”, clearly not with these crazy taxes that are being imposed on traders. Nigerian businesses are starting to pay more taxes than they can count—over 60 official taxes, and 200 unofficial taxes. Whether it’s federal taxes, state taxes, or local government tax, small business revenue has become national moi-moi that everyone in the Tinubu-led administration wants a piece of.
These business owners are being forced to increase the prices of their goods/services or run at a loss. For the ones who decide to increase their prices, there’s still a potential to run at a loss because the increased inflation rate is continuously reducing the purchasing power of their customers. For those who choose to maintain their prices, extra loss. It almost feels as if this administration has led businesses to a position where all options lead right back to square one and that’s not a good position to be.
This cup of tea doesn’t belong to small business owners alone, it’s everybody’s cup of tea. Even multinational firms like Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Plc, and Bayer AG have been forced to either revamp their business or leave Nigeria because of the rising cost of living.
This is a big deal because we’re all in trouble and the prices of our favorite things are not coming down anytime soon.
Akwa Ibom governor kinda wants to transfer the First Lady role to his daughter
Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom, seems to be making headlines for a rather unexpected reason—he wants to hand over the role of First Lady to his daughter, Helen Eno Obareki.
Your natural reaction might be “Aww, father of the year” but there’s a bit of a controversy around the whole thing.
The backstory
On September 26, tragedy struck when Governor Umo Eno’s wife, Patience Eno, passed away after an undisclosed illness. Her sudden departure left not just a hole in the governor’s heart but also a big question mark hanging over the state: “So, who’s stepping up as the new First Lady of Akwa Ibom?”
Traditionally, the First Lady's role goes to the wives of governors and presidents. But Eno will not be looking for a new partner because Patience is always going to be the love of his life.
So Governor Eno did what most men in his shoes would have done – he appointed his daughter Helen as the new face of the First Lady’s office.
According to him, he’s not “giving”, but only entrusting some of Patience Eno’s responsibilities. This means nobody in Akwa Ibom will be calling Helen the First Lady of Akwa Ibom anytime soon.
So, what does that mean for Helen? She’s earned new titles like the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor and the Coordinator of the Office of the First Lady. She’ll also be stepping in to manage programs her mother started, like the Golden Initiative for All and the ARISE Initiative for the Elderly, making sure that the women of Akwa Ibom continue to receive the support they need.
But does the Constitution allow it?
The Nigerian constitution doesn’t officially recognize the office of the First Lady. No formal job description, no official role—just a nice ring and the surname of the governor or president. It might sound a bit surprising since every democratic administration acts like it’s part of the package, but that’s the reality.
So, while there’s no official role for a First Lady, Eno can legally delegate responsibilities to his daughter in the absence of one.
Cholera is spreading…again
If you thought the cholera outbreak reported earlier in the year was a thing of the past, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) wants you to think again. There’s been a 220% spike in suspected cases in 2024 compared to 2023. The worst part of the outbreak is that the fatality rate of the disease is slowly climbing to 3.3%.
Just last week, five states reported 198 new suspected cases and 15 more deaths. Adamawa tops the chart with the highest cases, followed by Ebonyi, Borno, Kano, and Jigawa. Lagos is also struggling badly with its cases making up 43% of all cases nationwide.
This is a good time to pick up those strict hygiene practices again because NCDC has confirmed that it’s about to get even worse because of the rainy season.
This Week’s Big Question
“If you could witness any event in history, what would it be and why?”
Temi’s response - “Not exactly a moment in history but I wish I got to experience the 90’s. They had realer relationships and less problems”
You can also share your response here and if it’s as interesting as Temi’s response, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
Fubara To Wike: Let Go Of Rivers, You Can’t Win All Fights: Governor Siminalayi Fubara has called on his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, to release any hold he may want to maintain over Rivers State and allow peace to prevail in the oil-rich state.
Immigrants Bringing ‘Bad Genes’ Into US — Trump: Donald Trump on Monday claimed that illegal immigrants were bringing "bad genes" into the United States, doubling down on his controversial remarks about migrants tainting the nation's bloodline.
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