Immediate past Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Tunde Fowler, Monday thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the privilege he had to serve the nation and for what he was able to do with the support of all Staff.
\nWaxing biblical, Fowler noted that the taxman job is one of service to one\u2019s fatherland as it gives one the opportunity to serve fellow humans and the nation.
\nDetails of the handing over ceremony captured by Wahab Gbadamosi, the Head of Communications and Servicom Department quoted Fowler as saying that change remained constant.\u00a0 It is normal that people will always resist change, he noted.
\nHe spoke at arbour 6: 35 pm as he handed over to the Coordinating Director Domestic Taxes Group, Abiodun Aina, who promised to steady the ship of the FIRS.
\nSaid Tunde Fowler in a handover over ceremony at the Boardroom of the FIRS: \u201cLet me thank all of you who are here for what we have been able to do for our country. From the driver to the senior staff, everybody played a role.\u00a0 But with change, sometimes there is resistance. People will not understand the vision, will not understand the reason for the change. But hope in leaving FIRS, I\u2019ve left behind something, something, positive, that each and every one of you can build on.
\n\u201cWe have got a mandate. That mandate is not just to collect revenue. It\u2019s a mandate to collect the maximum amount of revenue for all concerned for the benefit of all Nigerians.
\n\u201cThere is nothing automatic about having a second Term.\u00a0 Some of you might say it\u2019s a big surprise.\u00a0 It a privileged to serve one\u2019s country. And if you have the privilege of serving your country for one
\nterm and you believe you have done your best, you have to thank God for that.
\n“For those of you we are leaving behind, \u00cf do not want to get too scriptural. But I believe that anything that you do, that helps your fellow human being, your neighbour is a blessing. And I believe that
\nthis job that we have been given is a job that will continue to help all Nigerians and all people residing in Nigeria.
\n\u201cWe have the opportunity to show the world that Nigeria has a lot to offer. It was during this period that we had a top Director, representing Nigeria and the world at the OECD. It was within this
\nperiod that Nigeria, for the first time chaired ATAF (African Tax Administration Forum), for two years running. It was within this period that Nigeria through your support, was appointed as the 1st
\nVice Chairman of the United Nations Committee of Tax Experts. So we have a lot going for us.
\n\u201cI like you to keep the flag flying, But I hope that sometime, when I visit, my picture will be somewhere on the wall.
\n\u201cOne thing, for people who have known me for a while, is that some of them refer to me as a shark. I like to keep people on their toes. Some of you might have thought that I don\u2019t appreciate your contribution. But some of you\u2026 might have been able to do things better. And part of my role is to bring out that s potentials in you. And I hope I have been able to do that. I am content.
\n\u201cI like to thank the President for giving me this opportunity of service. It\u2019s a privilege of service to your country. But at the same
\ntime, I believe I leave behind a good crop of directors that can move this organisation forward.
\n“I will say that for the incoming Chairman, for the incoming Board of Directors, give them the support. The vision, I believe, is the same vision that we have. But how to go about it may differ. Open yourselves up to change. At this point, it gives me extreme privilege, to hand over the running of this organisation until the Senate approves the\u00a0 new Board, to someone who has been here, to someone who understands the working of the FIRS, to someone who has been part of the change.\u00a0 And I believe that you will give him the support, not even the support you have given me. But more support. SO that when he hands over the organisation to the new board, they will see that this
\norganisation is one that shares the same vision, and of course believes in his mandate. With these few words, I like to say it\u2019s a pleasure working with all of you.
\n\u201cSome of you might have thought that don\u2019t like you. But I assure you it was work. But I believe in this room, we have got a lot of talent regardless of what happens, keep the flag flying.
\n\u201cOn this note, Mr. Aina, I have the privilege of handing over FIRS to you.\u00a0 God bless FIRS. Long live the Republic of Nigeria.
\nActing Executive Chairman, FIRS, Abiodun Aina spoke in glowing terms about Fowler. Said Aina: \u201cThank you very much Mr, Chairman, my boss, my brother, and my good friend Sir. As you hand over to me I say what I\u2019m I running. You have fought a good fight. You laid a very a solid
\nfoundation…
\n\u201cWithin the intervening period that I will be holding forte, I promise you to steady the ship, by the grace of God. You have done a lot within the space of four years. You have transformed FIRS. You have
\nmodernised it. There has been a lot of innovations. And under you we have achieved great heights. When we look back in 2015, collection was about N3. 3 trillion. At the end of 2018, with your leadership, we were able to move to N5. 32 Trillion. That was the highest collection
\never, in the annals FIRS. You brought dynamism to FIRS.
\n\u201cYou introduced so many programmes that repositioned FIRS: Tax Amnesty
\nProgramme, implemented VAIDS, increased the no of taxpayers nationwide to over 20 million in a spate of four years, began placing lien on the account of taxpayers to ensure that each capable corporate taxpayers pay his\/her dues, fostered collaboration amongst the states
\nthrough the Joint Tax Board, began robust information sharing\u00a0 amongst states, launched the JTB TIN so that states might have access to data for tax purposes, deepened FIRS\u2019 embrace of technology for tax purposes and many more.
\n\u201cBut like you also mentioned in your speech, change is usually resisted. And so you stepped on toes. That is normal. Leadership is not a popularity contest. And I\u2019m sure you know that very well. And
\nthat was why you were focused on carrying out the mandate that was given to you. I can tell you on behalf of my colleagues here that we will miss you.\u00a0 You have left a very big shoe behind. We will do all we can to ensure that we will keep the flag flying.
\n\u201cThank you very much for what you have done for us.
\nAs Aina ended his brief remark, directors and heads of department\u00a0 in attendance, held\u00a0 hands and sang For his a jolly good fellow, chorus\u201d for the outgoing executive chairman. Many pumped hands and thanked Fowler for his contribution to the Service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Immediate past Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Tunde Fowler, Monday thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the privilege he had to serve the nation and for what he was able to do with the support of all Staff. Waxing biblical, Fowler noted that the taxman job is one of service to one\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,15,7],"tags":[426,125,417],"class_list":["post-22984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-jobs","category-news","tag-aina","tag-firs","tag-fowler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}