I had a brief encounter with one Awka Resident who also does business here. Upon seeing me he reached out to tell me, according to him, “what you must tell your Oga”. My Oga, of course is the Governor, and he believes his message will be relayed as it is so important to him and “ndi Anambra”.
His message was, “gwa Oga gi na oburo ka esi eme Ife. O ji go Tax gbuo anyi na obodo a”. When translated this loosely means, “tell your Oga that things are not done this way. He has killed us with Tax”. He expected some form of empathy from me even though he couldn’t understand the stern look on my face. Then I asked him, “what were you paying before as tax, and what are you paying now?” His response was;
“O nwe bu k’anyi si a kwu ya, i ma na a na lu everything a lu, i wo ta go”. This translates to, “there was a certain way we handled our taxes in the past. You know everything can be manipulated, you understand”.
This guy was enjoying the manual tax collection system that was subject to easy manipulation. He bargained his way with corrupt tax officers who reduced approved fees for him without feeding same back to the system. So, with the deployment of technology by Soludo this criminal shortchanging of the system is no longer possible and he can no longer get the underhand bargains.
The story of this man represents the ill narrative peddled by people who have gotten accustomed to sharp practices in tax matters. Anyone who tells you stories of how Soludo has “killed them with Tax” ask them if the actual tax they paid in the past was increased? What will follow would shock you. Soludo is not for “business as usual”. He has a goal that is time bound, part of which is to re-engineer the minds of our people in ways that help them understand that every right is validated by a duty. If we must enjoy the right of citizenship, then we must first observe the duties and obligations that come with it.
Don’t just pay your tax. Pay your CORRECT tax Correctly!
#SolutionisHere
– Mazi Ejimofor Opara writes from Awka, Anambra State