My inaugural visit to the National Assembly complex feels like a homecoming. As a former Student Representative Council member, I feel awestruck visiting the highest law-making body in the country for the first time. The date was March 3rd, 2025 and the task was to join other eminent Nigerian youths to honorably and respectfully lend our voices to one of Nigeria’s most consequential, controversial and crucial bills in decades. As expected of such ambitious, contentious and audacious policy document, the bill, right from its transmission on October 3, 2024 by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the national assembly, had led flurry of reactions which set tongues wagging, sparking infernal debate while throwing spanners into the wheel of the nation’s north and south divides.
Indeed, as we sauntered through the expansive and behemoth structures that formed the country’s highest legislative body, the enormity of what the two hollow chambers in the assembly complex represent dawn on us. Anyone who’s visited the parliament knows that the national assembly can both be intimidatingly spectacular and powerful. It’s like the complex was designed to swallow visitors with mirthful abandon given that only the elected representatives sometimes feel at home inside the complex.
Although, by design, this parliament like its counterparts around the world had the people at the core of its existence. Perhaps, there is a reason most assemblies, including the National Assembly are called ‘Peoples Parliament’. At its face, my visit to the National Assembly was simple: participate in the ongoing public hearing on the tax reforms bill organized by the House committee on the Youths in the parliament ably chair by Hon. Olamijuwonlo Ayodeji Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso North, South and Orire Federal Constituency. Recall that prior to the public hearing organized by the Hon. Akala’s led committee, the national assembly had extended an invitation to the chairman of the Presidential Tax reforms committee, Professor Taiwo Oyedele to appear before it and the public. Alongside the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Dr. Zaccheus Adedeji Adelabu, they both honored the house with a view to giving account of the reforms bill capacity to widen tax net, turbo-charge revenue generation, block leakages and address other malfeasances in the country’s tax administration. For the lawmakers and the public, it was an epochal moment.
To understand how I found myself inside the Green Chamber, it helps to know that a survey asking young Nigerians to share their thoughts on the tax reforms bill was released on December 4th, 2024 by Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala via his official X handle. In the release, Hon. Akala promised to sponsor six (6) Nigerian youths – one from each geopolitical zone in the country for the National Youth Dialogue on Tax Reforms, organized by the House Committee on Youth in Parliament in collaboration with Project Sprint. Peremprorily, I turned in my application, noting that the tax reforms bill has the potential to transform the nation’s dwindling revenue generation and unlock the hidden economic potentials among the states. Luckily for me, I was one of the selected beneficiaries of the gesture.
To show his commitment, one of the Honorable’s aides reached out to coordinate my movement alongside three others from Ibadan. As we arrived at the TCTC park of the Pace Setter Transport Services early Sunday morning, we were stunned by the fleet of the brand-new buses at the disposal of the state transport company. Apparently, our trip to Abuja was the services inaugural journey to the country’s center of unity. Perhaps in another surprising twist, the brand-new buses were all powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and not the usual Premium Motor Spirit. Etched on the body of the buses were the logo of the state government, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas initative (PCNGi), and the political slogan of the current administration: Omituntun 2.0. Additionally, mere reading the letters on the buses revealed President Tinubu’s sustained energy transition efforts were in top gear. These buses been self evidence.
In essence, given the mixed and sometimes warped narratives surrounding CNG powered vehicles, we hop into the luxurious bus with some level of skepticism. In a flier circulated through social media, the Pace Setter Transport Services had promised free Wi-Fi, refreshment, personal charging port, comfortable seating and convenient schedules. To our surprise, every single promise made by the company was kept to the latter, stylishly earning a place in the hearts of their passengers.
Back to the Green Chamber. Chaired by Hon. Olamijuwonlo Ayodeji Alao-Akala, the public hearing on the tax reforms bill had critical stakeholders express their views. In his welcome address, Hon. Akala noted that the essence of the hearing was to hear the inputs of the youth demographic who constituted a significant chunk of the nation’s population. “An important bill of this magnitude cannot be discussed without providing a platform and avenue for the young people to air their perspectives and share their recommendations”, he asserted.
He added that the meeting was a demonstration of the Speaker’s commitment to advancing the collective interest of the youths. “The House Committee on Youths in the Parliament is the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria and this wouldn’t have been possible without the exemplary leadership of the Speaker, Rt. Honorable (Dr.) Tajudeen Abass, GCON. In his remark, the representative of the Speaker, Hon. Leke Abejide, Yagba East/West/Mopamuro federal constituency noted that he was chided for supporting the reforms tax bills at the height of public criticism against it particularly from a section of northern establishment. “I was told the tax reforms bill is anti-north and that for someone that grew in Kano, supporting such a bill amounts to stabbing northerners at the back”. He conveyed the Speaker’s message before leaving the session. James Israel, the country representative for Project Sprint also noted that the tax reform bills couldn’t have come at the right time other than now. He commended Hon. Olamijuwonlo Ayodeji Alao-Akala for partnering and collaborating with his organization in making the program a reality. Other heads of youth organizations equally shared their views on the topic and in minutes that followed, the floor of the house was opened for participants to speak their minds. Interestingly, the bulk of the recommendations centered around the proposed increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 7.5% to 10%, proposed scrapping of funding for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), the future of startups etc.
Remarkably, the most icing on the cake of the hearing was that a collegiate of rapporteurs were on standby taking note of people’s concerns and recommendations – a sign that our meeting was a serious business. “All the recommendations will be communicated to the appropriate authority and follow up will be made to ensure the final bill reflects the voices of the youths”, Hon. Muktar Bolaji Sagaya, Ilorin West/ Asa Federal Constituency assured in his closing remark. The meeting ended on a camaraderie and pleasing note. As a mark of appreciation, we paid a visit to the office of Hon.Olamijuwonlo Ayodeji Alao-Akala where we had a heart-to-heart discussion around leadership, nation building, career etc. “I am inviting you for dinner with you guys tonight at my house”, he warmly told us to the applause of his guests. While the world is not going to be saved by legislation as William Howard Taft once argued, I think frequent and periodic engagement between the people and their representatives will save the world from a lot of troubles.
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
