I watched an emotional video clip showing Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, expressing his deep dissatisfaction over the collection of tax from low income earners. The governor broke down in tears while expressing his pains that many low income earners live in abject poverty and that he couldn’t do much to help them. For this, the governor decreed that henceforth, low income earners will be exempted from paying tax in Cross River State.

This speech on the tax exemption for low income earners, given by Governor Ben Ayade, took place during the inauguration of an anti-tax agency headed by Bishop Emma Isong. This agency is tasked with ensuring that low income earners were not forced to pay tax. Among the low income earners listed are the taxi drivers, okada riders, hawkers, small saloon owners, farmers, “mama puts”, and so on. He saw the collection of tax from these groups of business owners as inhumane and unlawful.

The kind gesture of Gov. Ayade towards the poor is well received by many Nigerians, who see it as a sign of sympathy from a leader that understands the plight of his people. They applauded his kind gesture and hoped that many other governors would follow suit. But then, maybe Nigerians shouldn’t celebrate just yet. A lot of work still needs to be done if this exemption will touch the lives of the poor. In fact, the state needs to collaborate with several other agencies for this to work.

However, I am not a tax or a finance expert. But from the little I know, I think the following observations from the video clip may call attention to the people of Cross River State and the appropriate authorities to re-evaluate their master plan.

• Committee Members

I believe the Governor understood the implication of constituting a committee that is made up of only religious leaders to handle affairs of state. Permit me to say that religious leaders are experts in their field – religion – and not in politics or state governance. My little knowledge of religion and politics shows that they move in different directions because they don’t agree at all. I have also known that most religious organisations banned their leaders from meddling in state politics so that they could perform their functions as the conscience of the leaders without bias. Besides, history has shown that when religion and politics become one, the state suffers.

Another problem with the constitution of the committee members is that they are not the ones that impose tax and levies on people. I mean, why didn’t the governor consider inviting local government chairmen, NURTW chairmen, union heads, and other agencies that impose and execute tax collection? What about the law enforcement agents, why weren’t they part of the committee? What will clergy men and women do against these tough, blood-thirsty, do-whatever-it-takes-to-collect-the-levy agents when they don’t even have law enforcers in their team? These are my observations anyway, they may be inaccurate.

• The Exempted Tax

I actually got confused when the Governor talked about people collecting illegal taxes. I don’t know if he wanted to abolish the collection of illegal taxes or if the legal taxes will become illegal with the implementation of the directives. However, I know that tax collection is not done by the state government alone. In local markets, I see local government agents, town agents, village agents, Igwe agents, and what have you, collecting dues and levies from hawkers and petty traders. There is even the levy that is paid by people for using lands that are considered private properties. What I mean here is that some local markets are sited in private properties and both buyers and sellers pay to transact businesses there. Most times, buyers pay their own levy when they buy goods that need haulers or, like they do in Onitsha Army Barracks Tomato market, when they buy goods in bulk.

The point I am trying to make here is that the governor was not specific on whether he is exempting these low income earners from paying taxes that are levied by the three tiers of government, or if it is only the one levied by the state government. Believe me, if other levies are still in existence, then nothing changes. The greatest challenge of these small business owners is not from the state government, but from constituted unions, agencies and so on.

• Transfer of Responsibility

I was not impressed when the Governor said the citizens should desist from paying taxes and all. He, as a Nigerian living in Nigeria should understand the helplessness of Nigerians towards the law enforcers. It’s not today that governors have been banning taxes. Even he, Governor Alade, has banned payment of tax by low income earners in his state some years ago. But did it work? Obviously it did not.

All I am trying to say here is that the governor should forget about the citizens helping themselves. There is nothing any civilian can do to tax and dues collectors. If he truly wants to help, he should ensure that the facilities he put in place are functional and should be strong enough to enforce his directives.

• Laxity in Government

This is not supposed to come in here but somehow, it is here. It is actually unheard of that a public office holder resists the collection of tax because his administration could not provide basic amenities for the citizenry. The governor questioned the right of the government in collecting produce tax when they didn’t provide fertilizers, irrigations and other basic facilities needed by farmers. I have never known my mother to collect free fertilizers but I know she always buys good ones at subsidised rates from the local government. The only problem we can see here is that they are not always available because business owners buy them in bulk to sell at higher rates. So, if the government of Cross River State could not provide farmers with fertilisers, or make improved seeds and seedlings available to them to buy, then that government should be faulted.

• The Exemptees

Permit me to call them “exemptees” here. Now, who are these people exempted? What is the modality for exempting them? How can they tell if that woman that sells Ofe Akwu by the corner is not making more profit than Genesis restaurant? Or who can tell if that hawker that is exempted by the government does not, in a week, make more than triple of what that heavily taxed civil servant makes in a month? Sometimes the size of a shop does not directly indicate the size of the business. People can borrow to open something that seems big because they see that as a business strategy. This does not mean that they are not low income earners at that point in time. I just hope this new directive will not be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I applaud Cross River State governor for his courage in exempting low income earners from paying tax. His well-meaning gesture will help small business owners to rejuvenate at this point in history. But then, he needs to play his card well so that his good intentions don’t turn out wrong.

Just when it is thought the relationship between conservatives and social media platforms could get better, it went presidentially sour. On Wednesday, the US President Donald Trump threatened to ‘strongly regulate’ or shut down social media platforms for perceived attempts to muzzle conservatives.

“Republicans feel that Social Media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

This was coming after Twitter applied a fact-check to two of his previous tweets that called mail-in voting fraud. It is the first time the social media platform is putting a fact-check on Trump’s tweet, even though his tweets are believed to be full of controversies and unsubstantiated claims. The action appears to have triggered a threat response from Trump, escalating what members of the Republican Party believe to be an unfair treatment deliberately targeted at conservatives.

Trump came on full throttle, accusing the tech industry of getting involved in the 2020 elections. For weeks now, he has been campaigning against mail-in voting, saying it’s a fast way to rig the elections, and it shouldn’t be allowed.

“We can’t let large scale Mail-in Ballots take root in our Country. it would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, Now!!!” Trump tweeted.

After the 2016 elections, democrats were particularly angered by the amount of misinformation that social media platforms allowed during the election period, especially sponsored posts linked to Russia. Since then, the social media platforms have pledged to get rid of fake news and misinformation; removing accounts linked to misleading contents and promoting credible sources of information for counter-claims.

Trump has been caught in a series of misleading information through his social media accounts, a development that has repeatedly placed social media platforms in compromising situations. The outbreak of coronavirus reinforced the need for checks on contents in the social media space. Google, Facebook and Twitter stepped up their game and created techniques to minimize false information as much as possible.

However, the new approach appears more likely to aggravate the existing discord between social media platforms and the Republicans.

Early this month, Facebook inaugurated a team of independent experts to check contents put out on the platform. The move was understood to be one of the measures Facebook is using to calm the nerves of conservatives and change the perception that the platform is working in favor of their political opponents.

Trump has been pushing the ‘bias media’ rhetoric and has repeatedly promised to do something to remedy the situation. Earlier this month, he tweeted that the radical left is in control of the social media.

“The radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google,” he tweeted. “The administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events.”

It is not known what Trump is going to do to remedy the situation since his options seem limited according to legal experts. Some believe he is going to leverage antitrust issues that many of the social media platforms have been caught up in recently. But agencies like the FCC and FTC are not ready to be pushed around for political interest yet. Trump’s earlier attempt to make them arbiters of politics has been resisted; suggesting that further attempts to get the commissions involved would hit a stone wall.

Andrew Schwartzman of the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society said the most obvious action Trump would take would be to push for amendment of the Communication Decency Act which shields social media platforms from legal liability for many of the contents put out on them.

Trump’s options seem narrow as the FCC and FTC lack the jurisdiction to execute the kind of action he would want against Twitter and Facebook. With no law on his side to tackle what he called “stifling of free speech” by social media platforms, Trump appears to be picking a fight he’s already lost.

However, Trump’s recent attack on social media means he is escalating his fight with the media beyond the mainstream. But his outbursts on Twitter over his own misleading information are believed to be borne out of a concealed desire for media censorship.

Following Tesla steps, Volkswagen AG is in talks with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) firms for investment deals in China. China has established itself as the largest market for electric cars and has been stirring investment interest from automakers from around the world.

The German company is buying 50% of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holding, the parent of EV partner JAC Motors for 3.5 billion yuan ($491 million) according to Reuters.

In 2019, Tesla ventured into China to become the first foreign company to establish an auto making plant in the south Asian country. With huge interest in environmentally friendly cars, China has become the biggest market for the automobile industry.

Volkswagen is also investing in EV battery maker Guoxuan High-tech Co Ltd, with the aim of becoming the highest shareholder according to the report.

China’s 2018 review of government ownership rules to allow more foreign direct investors has resulted in the surge of interest among western carmakers. And New Energy Vehicles (NEV) is becoming the focus as calls for cleaner energy continue. Volkswagen is keenly looking to retain its position as the highest car producer in China.

China sold 25 million cars at the end 2019 to maintain its position as the world’s biggest auto market. According to Reuters, Volkswagen targeted Anhui Jianghuai, a state owned company in the eastern city of Hefei. Part of its core assets is 25.23% stake in JAC, with a market value of $1.84 billion.

According to people familiar with the matter, Volkswagen plans to make fresh investment in its 50:50 venture with JAC, and build capacity with its modular MEB platform, an architecture enabling efficient production of various EV models.

Volkswagen interest in China is not limited to car manufacturing. Battery is also becoming of huge interest. The company plans to buy about 27% of Guoxuan mostly via a discounted private share placement as well as from top shareholder Zhuhai Guoxuan Trading Ltd, which holds 18%, and the founder Li Zhen, who owns 12%.

The Guoxuan’s market capitalization stood at $4.3 billion, which means that a 27% stake is worth $1.16 billion.

Volkswagen also has investment with another Chinese company, state-owned China FAW Group Corp Ltd and SAIC Motor Corp Ltd.

While the deal remains confidential, Guoxuan has stopped trading its stock since May 20. The company said on Tuesday that Zhuhai Guoxuan and Li Zhen would sell part of their holdings to a strategist whose identity was not made known. It added that the shares will be issued via private offering.

The deal is yet to be finalized and there is a tendency for change in investment sizes according to the sources.

Volkswagen’s big dream to be the biggest player in the automobile industry lies on finding its place in the world’s biggest automobile market, and putting up a fierce competition. The company aims to sell 1.5 million new energy vehicles in China by 2025.

The company told Reuters that it is poised to deepen its relationship with local partners and thereby secure long-term deals.

“Volkswagen consistently searches for ways to strengthen and deepen our relationship with local partners. In this regard we will explore possible options together with all stakeholders to secure long-term success.”

The German automaker is pushing to get over the strains of the 2015 scandal that rocked its market value and cost it billions in fines and legal fees. Volkswagen admitted that it installed software that lowered harmful emissions of nitrogen compounds under test conditions. The case involved 11 million vehicles produced by the Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen has been made to pay more than €30 billion around the world in fines, compensation and legal costs since 2015 when the scandal became known. The company’s reputation and value went down so fast that investors feared it would take a long time to make up for the losses.

The company has struggled to break off the shackles of the scandal. With a new wave of suits springing up now and then, Volkswagen appears to be tied to the regrettable past. Its executives admitted that the scandal has pushed them to venture into electric vehicles faster than the company should, in a bid to repair the company’s reputation.