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Tax Experts Fault ASUU’s Demand For Education Tax Increase

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The appeal of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to increase education tax to 10 percent has been criticised by tax experts.

Investors King recalls the statement made by the ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osedeke in an interview, lamenting poor funding of Nigerian tertiary institutions. He proposed a 10 percent tax to improve the situation.

A Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader, PwC, Taiwo Oyedele, on his part opposed ASUU’s proposal noting that education tax was recently increased from 2.5 percent to 3 percent last year.

Oyedele pointed out that when several taxes including income tax, police tax, technology tax and others a calculated, each company will be paying over 40 percent which is on the high side.

He stated, “For those of us who are involved in tax matters, I can tell you authoritatively that one basis point of education tax rate is equivalent to two basis points of companies income tax rate because it is calculated on a much larger base than companies income tax.

“This is one of the highest in the world for a country where you need to attract investments. It is even higher than the OECD. The problem that we have in the educational sector is not by increasing the burden on the private sector to fund them. The fundamental question is that over the last 10 years, education tax has contributed over N2tn to that sector. Who is explaining how that money has been spent?” he asked.

Also speaking on the issue, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane stressed that such tax increase is not needed at the moment drawing the attention of the government to other means of funding education. 

Rewane advised that money gotten from subsidies can be largely transferred to fund education.

He further encouraged scholarship opportunities, grants and bursaries from the government and private firms

His words, “that is another knee-jerk reaction with all due respect to ASUU. What have we achieved with the 2.5 per cent Tertiary Education Tax? We should look at how utilisation of tax proceeds has been as well as its impact.”

“I believe a much more viable option is to give scholarships, grants and bursaries so that people can have education. Free, compulsory and quality education is a right.”

Education

FG Abolishes 18-Year Age Benchmark For Admission Into Tertiary Institutions

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The new Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has abolished the controversial 18-year admission benchmark for tertiary institutions in the country.

This is coming as the minister indicated interest in reviewing the nation’s education policy.

However, Alausa stated that there would be no reversal of the Federal Government’s decision to void over 22,700-degree certificates obtained by Nigerians from some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and the Benin Republic.

Alausa spoke on Tuesday at his inaugural ministerial press conference in Abuja.

He stated that practical education will help to address the unemployment situation in Nigeria, as tertiary institutions will not continue to churn out graduates every year without providing jobs for them.

He disclosed that the Federal Government will collaborate with private sector operators to train students in order to discover and unleash their potential.

Alausa added that universities of agriculture will be empowered to adopt commercial farming practices to combat food insecurity.

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Education

NCC Confiscates ₦23 Million Worth of Pirated Books During Bookstores Raid In Uyo

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The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on Saturday, November 2, confiscated ₦23.1 million in pirated books from local shops, including Academic Needs and Zion Bookshop during a raid in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The raid was by the Deputy Director of Operations, Mr Macfoy Akachukwu, representing the NCC Director General, Dr. John Asein.

Akachukwu, who stated that the raid was a significant operation to combat the rampant sale of pirated books, listed the books seized during the raid to include: Basic Civic Education by Dr Merry Ukaegbu, Spectrum New Further Mathematics by T.R. Moses and Essential Christian Religious Study for Senior Secondary Schools by Orovwuje B.O and Okolie E.U.

Other books included Macmillan Brilliant English for Junior Secondary Schools by Wale Ossianwo, New General Basic Science for Junior Secondary Schools by S. Ajayi, New Oxford Secondary English Course for Secondary Schools by Ayo Banjo and New Concept Mathematics for Senior Secondary Schools by H.N. Odogwu among others.

Major publishers affected by the raid included Evans, UPL, Lantern, Longman, TONAD, and Pearson among others.

According to Asein, the operation is important as it was part of a nationwide initiative to protect authors’ rights.

“What we have done is part of the commissions mandate to protect and promote the rights of authors and other genuine investors in the copyright book industry,” he stated.

He reaffirmed that the NCC is committed to “eliminating the sale of pirated works and to establish a robust copyright framework in Nigeria”.

Asein emphasized that authors deserve to benefit from their creative work and not run into financial losses because of piracy.

“It is our duty to ensure that authors get rewards for their creative work. I have under my watch, zero tolerance for piracy and infringement of Copyright Laws,” Asein said.

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Strike: Academic Activities Remain Grounded As NASU, FG Clash Over Half Salary Payment

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While the Federal Government and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) continue to engage in discussions to end the ongoing strike, academic activities in the country have remained grounded leaving students in frustration.

Investors King in an earlier report detailed that the academic bodies directed its members to commence a nationwide indefinite strike from Monday over the nonpayment of four months withheld salaries.

The leaders of the two unions announced that the strike would start on Sunday, October 27, 2024.

JAC, in a circular to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU in the universities and inter-university centres, with the title: ‘Latest development in respect of the withheld four (4) months salaries’, and signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, explained that the timing of the action was for effective co-ordination and for both unions to be on the same page.

After discussions with the unions, the FG through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Saturday authorized a partial payment to the bodies and urged them to shelve the strike.

Reacting to this, JAC kicked against the FG’s approval of only one month out of the four months of withheld salaries.

The union officials, including SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, stated that the one-month salary is insufficient to meet their demands.

“Yes, they paid one month out of four months. We shall be meeting to appraise the situation, but not everyone has received their pay so far,” Ibrahim said.

The unions declared that the nationwide strike would continue until all demands are met and all withheld salaries paid.

JAC revealed that over 98 percent of union members across the country have complied with the strike.

Revealing the next step, Ibrahim said, “We plan to convene soon to determine further steps, and reaffirm our stance to remain on strike until the government fully addresses the salary backlog.”

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