A visit to the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue by someone, that has not visited the board in the last two months revealed a monumental change in the attitude of the staff and a very conducive environment put in place by its new chairman, Alhaji Hamman Adama Njabari. He was appointed to put the board back on track in order to generate all the necessary taxes to complement government efforts in delivering democracy dividend.
Due to the dexterity and commitment exhibited by the chairman, a new outlet was opened in the board to generate revenue through learners’ registration, which is the first in the history of revenue boards in this country.
Designated channels were created for the inflow of cash in terms of revenue generation in the state with the opening of zonal offices across the entire state.
This would go a long way in making the state to actualise the laudable commitment of the government. A lot of incentives were put in place by the board to galvanise the staff for optimum performance. Chairman accentuated this because the staff are the engine of the board in the art of collecting the desired revenue generation for the state.
It is worth mentioning in this piece, that concrete arrangements were put in place in the whole of the zonal offices to collect all taxes. Alhaji Njabari, who has the mandate of the government to collect all taxes has put in place the necessary tools towards that.
Essential departments were put in place to achieve that target in addition to the existing departments in the board.
The board is not leaving any stone unturned based on the guidelines given by the State Executive Council to generate substantial revenue to the government to enable it take proactive measure(s) to see, that the leakages hitherto associated with the board is no longer in place.
Also, the vision of the leadership is to have a unique board that can generate the required revenue to complement the allocation from the Federal Government in delivering dividend of democracy.
He has succeeded where his predecessors failed, since he has performed creditably, effectively and efficiently in the areas most needed for enhanced management.
These efforts moved the people to be well informed about the activities of the board in revenue generation.
Alhaji Njabari intensified his effort in meeting the mandate given to the board by the government in the generation of revenue.
This was done through non interference by the chairman in the activity of each department by giving free hand to the Directors of each department to effectively be in charge.
Nobody is complaining of being marginalised, victimised and humiliated by either the chairman or directors. This has greatly gone a long way in cementing a robust relationship among the staff of the board. There is no disconnect and antagonism that normally lead to unwanted friction in terms of discharging responsibility among the staff of the board. This was made possible because Alhaji Njabari, believes in collective team work, that usually led to enhanced productivity on the psyche of the staff.
The changing face of the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue is anchored on the fact, that before, things were not done in the right way thereby denying the state substantial revenue that needed to go into the coffers. All hands are being put on deck in revenue generation in Adamawa State due to incentives put on by the chairman, who was picked up because of pedigree as the former Director of Collection.
The board has within a short time recorded remarkable success in the generation of revenue in the first quarter of the year. By the end of the year, the target of N2 billion would be met.
Therefore, what is happening in the board now is as a result of collective teamwork by the new leadership, which was absent over the years. More efforts need to be put in place so as to conserve the Internally Generated Revenue to avoid the over dependence on the federal allocation.
Usman Santuraki writes from Jimeta-Yola