By Praise Chinecherem
Social and Integral Development Centre, (SIDEC), a Tax, Justice and Governance advocacy group has appealed to Anambra State government to fix deplorable roads around major markets in the state to ease human and vehicular movement during the yuletide.
Executive Director of SIDEC, Ugochi Ehiahuruike, made the appeal during an advocacy visit to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Markets, Chief Evaristus Uba, as part of Tax for Service Project jointly implemented by the organization in collaboration with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC) with funding support from Oxfam.
In her power-point presentation, Ehiahuruike showed the current pitiable conditions of roads around the major markets in Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Igboukwu Aforigwe among others.
“Mr. Governor is really doing a lot on roads. He is building a massive flyover, first of its kind in Ekwulobia. But accessing those markets in the area was challenging when we visited. This slide is the old market road by Bright Street. The other one is the Bida Road to Fegge. Over there is the new market road by DMGS.
“The next is Odera market and the road in bad condition. If these roads are fixed, people can come in and patronize them the more. The traders make more money as well as government.
“In Anambra State, there are more than 158 structured markets. If they are all accessible, functional, and people are doing their business profitably, we’ll be able to achieve 100 billion IGR per annum”.
Responding, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Markets, Chief Uba, said government is committed to giving the traders a friendly environment that can enhance ease of doing business, but attention is more on infrastructure that benefit both traders and other citizens.
“Government is paying greater attention to roads leading to the markets because they are more important than roads inside markets. Secondly, the government has addressed the issue of touting and now traders and their customers can carry out their businesses without fear of molestation.
“Several roads have been reconstructed even in Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia and others. Before, you can’t pass through Ochanja market. It was a refuge dump. But now, you have the waterfront, street lights. Even now, they are doing a security guard at those junctions.
“Government will start work on the Nkwo Nnewi-Adeleh road leading to F-Line Building Materials after the completion of the Bank road. Same will be done at Bida Road, Sokoto Road in Onitsha to further facilitate trade.
The SPAD regretted that government does not generate as much as many people think from the markets. “What markets contribute is not up to 5%. A trader that is in a shop making five million naira will not accept to pay 100,000, but for a level 8 officer in civil service, the deduction that is applied to his or her salary in a year is bigger than what that person making five million naira pays.
“We just adjusted the trader’s tax to 17,500 from 3,000 they have been paying up till last year. Even at 3000, they were thinking that it’s too much because they don’t want to pay tax.
According to him, Government has introduced enumeration and validation of traders as the only way it can get what is due to it. “We must know the number of stores in the market. But the market leadership and traders don’t want us to know. They don’t give accurate figures. The enumeration and validation exercise is on in Ogbaru.
“Every citizen of the state must understand and appreciate the fact that tax payment is a civic responsibility,” he concluded.
