Today as I drove to work, an advertisement by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) informed the public about the Commission’s plan to enforce the mandatory insurance of public buildings under Section 65 of the Insurance Act, 2003. According to the provisions of the Act, all public buildings must be insured against collapse, fire, earthquake, storm and flood. The first thought that ran through my mind is that “these government people have come again” and the second thought was “how does this benefit me in any way”.
Don’t get me wrong, I think in this age of buildings collapsing ‘willy nilly’ in Nigeria and little or no compensation being paid to persons affected, more needs to be done to ensure that the rights of citizens are protected.
However, with that being said, my grouse is with the fact that we as citizens, whether corporate or legal, are always expected to discharge our obligations under every regulatory law without any commensurate reciprocity from government.
For example, under the tax regime in Nigeria, for every funds received either as an employee or a business owner, government must get its share. With the advent of bank verification numbers, there is no way to creatively reduce or avoid paying taxes. The government, through its various agencies, now know what your income and expenditure is and can compare against your tax declaration. Under the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) Campaign of the Federal Government, all taxpayers have a limited time opportunity to regularize their tax payments and avoid paying overdue interest and criminal prosecution.
On the flipside, you have the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) with the mission:
“To be proactive in providing social security protection and safety nets for all Nigerians against deprivations and income insecurity in accordance with national and international laws, conventions and world best practices.”
Under this mission, the NSITF is ‘chasing down’ all employers of labour and making them pay a backlog of what it considers contributions to the employee compensation fund under the Compensation Act 2010. According to the Act, the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) replaces the Workmen’s Compensation Scheme in line with global best practices and trends. The ECS is meant to provide adequate and timely compensation for employees who suffer injuries/diseases in the course of their employment. In addition, it provides rehabilitation for injured employees in workplaces and replacement of loss of productivity to the employer. It is a no-fault claim scheme and the funds generated from the scheme is being invested in other basic social security services.
Nevertheless, while all of these initiatives are laudable as it highlights the zeal of the FG in its quest to live up to its constitutional responsibility towards the welfare of the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I cannot help but ask:
Why does it always have to involve payment of monies?
What happened to other social benefits that Nigerians are entitled to and government is obligated to provide?
Who enforces these obligations on the part of government?
I pay my taxes, I am entitled to uninterrupted electricity. At the very least, I am entitled to a prepaid meter where I only pay for what I consume and not be saddled with an overestimated bill that does not take into cognizance how much electricity I actually consume.
I pay my taxes, I am entitled to potable water supply and not have to sink a bore hole system in my house and fuel my generator to power the bore hole.
I pay my taxes, I am entitled to drive into a petrol station, buy fuel and drive out within record time and not queue for hours on end simply because I need to fill my fuel tank.
I can go on and on about all the social responsibilities the Federal Government owes me as a citizen of Nigeria and for all these services, I pay: nothing is free of charge. With the inefficiency of government, I am both a supplier and a consumer at the same time of all these social services. I own a generator, I sink a borehole, I contribute to the estate fundraising to tar the road to my house e.t.c.
Having said all these, what ethical justification does the FG have in threatening me with sanctions over what it considers my legal duty? Have I issued any sanctions against the organs and agencies of government for failing to provide me with adequate social services?
It is time for us citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to also start enforcing our basic living rights; right to light, right to water, right to good roads, right to fuel.
2019 is almost here and is a good time to start. Let us consciously and conscientiously vote not only for a government who is capable of meeting its obligations to us as a people but for a government who actually does “care” about its citizens.. because in a not too distant future, there will be nothing left to give the GOVERNMENT!
