Contrary to the calls for the discontinuation of waivers owing to the fact that they are being abused by a privileged few, the President, Shippers Association of Lagos state (SAL), Rev. Jonathan Nicol has called for its sustenance saying that it was a necessity in a growing economy like Nigeria.
Nicol who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently however cautioned that while it was necessary to sustain the waiver system in the economy, adequate care should be taken to ensure that the system was not abused by those in authority and their cronies.
He disclosed that in the developed economies like the United States of America, waivers were given to the Presidency for specific consignment that the Presidency would need for its administrative set up as well as some very key Ministries adding that such practice should not be different here.
He however observed that unlike in Nigeria where being a government official was a panacea for having waivers for importation of some choice goods either for themselves or for their cronies, waivers were not granted to government officials in other climes.
He believed that apart from young manufacturing companies and some key sectors of the economy which should be given waivers to enable them stabilize enough so as to be able to afford to pay duty and taxes as they continued in their businesses, no other individual should be granted waivers.
“If you look at the bulk of waivers that we give, I think that the National Assembly members and some individuals in this country are the beneficiaries of these waivers. All of them are government agents. So, if the government says, alright, give them waivers because they imported at the dispensation of Justice, the government would have absorb that aspect of waivers given and also reduce the income of the Nigeria Customs service”.
“So, we feel that it is a government thing and if government says fine, nobody in government should pay duty, we are not to say no. If the government wants all their money, then we insist that everybody should get it”.
“As far as I know, I am very sure that some extant factories are given five years concession for their industries to stabilize before they can pay duty, that is understood because of the major investment, the factories have to stabilize before they begin to pay duty collectible”, Nicol said.
He bemoan the practice where those in authority got waivers on exotic cars and luxurious goods that they may hitherto pay up to six million Naira in duty while an ordinary man in the street was made to pay through his nose because he struggled to import a vehicle of less than a Million Naira in value questioning the rationale behind such act.
According to him,” so that these privileges are given to the leaders doesn’t mean that you should shortchange the country. If you are a good citizen of this country, you should be able to pay your taxes because waivers are part of taxes and that is our own concept. If the government loses so much in waiver and the shippers are paying so much in waiver, it doesn’t make sense”.
“I know there are the cement industries that are being set up all over the country, if those industries established with the kind of waivers government gives, I think it will help the country because after five years, those companies should have been in a position not only to pay duty but also export. That is the bottom line of waivers”.
“But when you begin to give waivers for luxury goods as they put it, the car that you bought for may be ten Million Naira and you come and pay three Million Naira, I mean it doesn’t make sense. You now abuse the privileges of waivers and that is the major part of the waiver we are talking about”.
He therefore advised the government to be fair in its dealing especially as it has to do with the granting of waivers so as not to allow room for abuse and placing premium on some individuals as against others as according to him,” there is nobody that is a special individual in the world, we all have the same blood go through our veins”.
