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2 NIGERIAN WATCH 28 Aug - 10 Sept 2015 NEWSWAtCh Follow us on Twitter @NigerianWatch NIGERIAN WATCH Big company tax bonanza is costing Nigeria dear coMMENt Lest we forget the Frontier Force recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a veteran of World War 2. This proud Nigerian told me he was one of the lucky ones, as he had served with the British rAf. While being one of the most glamorous arms of the armed services at the time, the rAf was also the most dangerous, so I was perplexed. “Why lucky?” I asked. “Because it got me out of the royal West African frontier force,” he explained. This was the name given to Britain’s colonial forces, enlisted to fight in the jungles of Burma and Japan against the Japanese. An infamous and fearsome theatre of war. over 100,000 saw action in the jungles. yet they are never remembered. come VJ Day – which fell on August 15 and was commemorated in a televised service in Britain –their role is only noticeable by it’s absence. This is an injustice and slight to us all, when we shared such common cause and such a common history. our sacrifice should be remembered, too. That it is not is a disgrace that shines a harsh light on a battle we are still fighting. for equality in all things. Maryanne Jemide, MD publisher tevin Jemide publisher/managing director Maryanne Jemide managing Editor Jon hughes Art Editor cathy constable Contributors obah Iyamu; harriet ogbeide; AJ James; Ayo Akinfe; funmi odegbami; Samuel Kasumu; Ngozi Mbana; Ekanem robertson, Jessica onah, laura Adenuga; Edel Meremikwu Chief Cartoonist harold ogbeide office address Nigerian Watch chartwell house 292 hale lane Edgware Middlesex hA8 8NP Email editor@nigerianwatch.com marketing@nigerianwatch.com sales@nigerianwatch.com Website www.nigerianwatch.com tel: 020 8588 9640 fax: 020 7160 5232 Nigerian Watch is a fortnightly newspaper owned by green World Media ltd. Views expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of the newspaper may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. ISSN 2051-4670 West African countries are losing an estimated US$9.6 billion of revenue each year by granting tax incentives to foreign companies, according to a new report published on Monday (August 24) by ActionAid and the Tax Justice Network - Africa. West African governments provide corporate tax incentives, including tax breaks and holidays, in the belief that they attract foreign investment which will in turn create jobs. The report states that this belief is both unfounded and harmful. According to Ojobo Atuluku, ActionAid Nigeria’s country director, “Each year, governments of West Africa are forfeiting billions of dollars in revenue that is needed to improve education, healthcare and infrastructure, and they are doing so without any evidence that tax incentives actually work. “In fact, as our report shows, there is a considerable body of information showing that tax incentives do not result in foreign investment and the subsequent creation of jobs.” The report, entitled West African Giveaway, states that while there has been increased foreign investment in the region it is largely due to the presence of natural resources like oil and diamonds. “The natural resources that West Africa has are rare and valuable. Extractive companies would invest with or without tax incentives,” said Tax Justice Network - Africa’s executive director, Alvin Mosioma. Unlike manufacturing, the extractives sector does not employ a large local workforce. Atuluku sites Nigeria as an example. “The government of Nigeria grants $2.9 billion a year in tax incentives to foreign companies. This is more than the federal education budget and twice the budget allocated for health. And yet the companies that receive these incentives employ only about 7,000 people. There are 30 million young people alone looking for work in Nigeria. Seven thousand is a mere drop in the bucket.” Are you looking for a Criminal Law Specialist? 24hr service at the Police Station? Call: Clement Idowu Accredited Representative 07940439042 The tragic irony, Mosioma said, is that “foreign companies do not consider tax incentives to be an important factor for investment; they would prefer good infrastructure, such as reliable roads and electricity.” Tax pays for the provision and maintenance of roads and electricity, as well as healthcare and education. The report calls for West African governments to review the tax incentives they are granting with a view to abolishing all unproductive incentives. Any incentives that are determined to be effective should be targeted at achieving specific social and economic objectives that benefit West African citizens. The report further states that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) must establish a regional framework for corporate tax incentives. Currently, the countries of the region are competing for foreign investment by offering increasingly bigger tax incentives, resulting in a ‘race to the bottom’. “The situation we have right now is one in which everyone in West Africa is losing,” said Atuluku. “But it is the people living in poverty, in particular the women and children, who are the most affected. These people desperately need healthcare, education, clean water, agricultural inputs and the support of security services to climb their way out of poverty.” #bring back our girls mark 500 days United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon, on Monday (Aug 24) made a passionate appeal for the release of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls, who were abducted in April 2014 by Boko Haram militants. Mr Ki-Moon pleaded for the unconditional release of the girls and other abductees of the Boko Haram. He was speaking in Abuja after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, as part of activities scheduled for his two-day official visit to Nigeria. The visit coincides with the week the "Bring Back Our Girls" protesters led by the former World Bank Vice President, Oby Ezekwesili, are preparing to commemorate the 500th day since the girls disappeared, which fell yesterday (Thursday, Aug 27).
NEWSWAtCh Like us on Facebook NIGERIAN WATCH facebook.com/NigerianWatch 28 Aug - 10 Sept 2015 3 HEROIC EBOLA DOC COULD BE AFRICA’S FIRST SPACEMAN A selfless and heroic Nigerian doctor hopes to become the first black African in space – but he needs YOUR help to achieve his dream. Freeman Osonuga doesn’t want your money, he just needs your attention and vote in a social media ballot (see box). During a telephone call with Nigerian Watch he issued a passionate appeal to readers. “I want you to say to yourself, ‘Today we have to be a part of history, to send the first black African man to space. I want you to support me, Freeman Osonuga, a multi award winning humanitarian. Together we can make history. Together we can change the world for the better.” Few are more deserving of this opportunity which has presented itself in recognition of his humanitarian work. A high profile poverty alleviation campaigner he runs a charity in Nigeria called Heal The world Foundation, which has a vision to “help the helpless” and supports poor students and orphans to achieve their education. He is a passionate advocate for the poor, reflecting his own humble beginnings in Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. He recently used his Huffington Post blog to deliver a passionate article on the Rights of the Down Trodden. He wrote, “The onus is upon government at all levels to take up their responsibility of providing adequately for the welfare of people out there on the streets who can’t provide for themselves and also to defend those who are constantly being abused. A government is constituted to protect the rights of people.” In late 2014 at the peak of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Dr Osonuga worked for six months as a volunteer with the African Union team of Ebola responders in Sierra Leone, for which he was awarded a Meritorious Service Award from country’s President Bai Ernest Koroma. It was speaking about this feat that led to his being recognised as a change maker that resulted in his being shortlisted for the opportunity to go to space. “If a young person from a poor and disadvantaged background like me can be among the 30 shortlisted finalists and eventually go to space, truly, nothing is impossible to those that believe,” he said. “With faith, hope and perseverance, every young person can fulfil their dreams irrespective of colour, tribe, nation, sex, background and ethnicity.” He has since become the 2015 WIRED Innovation Fellow, an associate of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a One Young World Ambassador. Also in 2013 and 2014, Time Magazine named him as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Nigeria and also Person of the Year respectively. Thirty people are vying for the opportunity to take the space flight. The social media ballot will leave three finalists, who will attend the One World Summit in Thailand in November where they will deliver a final plea as to why it should be them that goes into space. Dr Osonuga will be making his pitch around climate change, which he says is the greatest threat to humanity. With flood warnings across Nigeria and conflict in the middle belt as a result of desertification, this is the critical issue of our time, he told Nigerian Watch. “We need to protect our climate, we have a responsibility to ourselves and to protect the earth for the generations that follow us,” he said. how you can launch Dr osungua into space All you have to do is visit this website… www.krugercowne.com/risingstar/shortlist/freeman-osonuga/ …and share Dr Osunga’s profile by one of the four links provided. Then you’ll be able to tell your children and grandchildren you helped to put the first black man in space and avert a planetary emergency. Banking hall re-named in honour of Dr tafida The splendid Banking Hall at the Nigeria High Commission in London has been re-named the Dalhatu Sarki Tafida Hall by Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry in appreciation of the departing High Commissioner’s “meritorious service to the country”. On Thursday (August 13) at a private party with Mission staff it was revealed that with the approval of the permanent secretary and acting foreign affairs minister Ambassador Bulus Lolo, the Nigerian High Commission in London would henceforth rename its banking hall the Dalhatu Sarki Tafida Hall. It capped a flurry of parties and dinners throughout early August staged to celebrate the achievements of the Ambassador during his record-breaking seven years and three months in office. Dr Tafida, a former Nigerian health minister and senate leader, has been Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK since 2008, having first been appointed by Late President Umaru Yar'Adua. Fondly regarded by staff and the Nigerian diaspora community in the UK, Dr Tafida, affectionately called Baba Tafida, was regarded as one of the most accessible high commissioners ever in the UK. With Dr Tafida now leaving, the deputy high commissioner Ambassador Olakunle Bamgbose will run the London mission until a permanent appointment is made by President Buhari. See pages 12&13 www.SimbaPay.com SimbaPay Ltd, Google Campus, 4-5 Bonhill Street, London, EC2A 4BX t: +44 (0)20 31378517 e: info@SimbaPay.com Regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)
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