By Amos Aar
THE National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has cried out over what they called ‘double taxation’ by the Benue State government and called for harmonisation of the taxes.
Speaking Wednesday in an interview with newsmen in Makurdi during NAPPS day celebration, Chairman of the association, Reverend Dr Phillip Onminyi, expressed worry that the taxes are so multiple that sometimes they don’t know which one to pay and which one not to pay.
According to him, NAPPS complained about their plight recently to the chairman, Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), Mrs Adzakpe-Orubibi, to harmonise the taxes but she said a law has to be enacted by the Benue State House of Assembly to support it.
“It was not quite long, I think last month to be precise, we were with the BIRS chairman, Mrs Mimi Orubibi, and we told her our plight and she promised to look into it. We told her that let the payments be harmonised, let’s have a consolidated tax. So that someone will not come and say renewal, another one will say synergy, another one will say business promise. They are too many for us and we don’t know which one we are supposed to pay and which one we are not supposed to pay.
“We told her that they should consolidate them, but she told us that it is a matter of law, she is only implementing the law, she cannot change it and that she can only put it forward to the state’s House of Assembly so that they can do something about it. So, we are waiting,” Dr Onminyi said, as he also lamented negligence of schools by government which according to him has led to more private schools in existence than public schools.
Onminyi revealed that NAPPS Day was organised to enable children to come together to relax as they used to do in those days when Children’s Day was observed every year.
“It’s like government is not interested in schools like before. You can discover that in Nigeria especially in Benue State today, the private schools are much more than the public schools. Independence, nobody is coming out for any celebration again, children’s day, nobody is coming out for celebration again. That’s why we look at NAPPS Day as our day. We say that all our children will come and relax, enjoy themselves and relax,” the NAPPS chairman stated
Speaking on the mandate of NAPPS, the chairman said, “our mandate is to nurture the Nigerian child for development. That is why our motto is ‘Nurturing for National Development.’ We train up children from a day old until they will graduate from secondary school.”
NAPPS Day is an annual event celebrated on every 12th October according to Dr Onminyi.
