BIR: The task ahead

Over the weekend, Governor Udom Emmanuel inaugurated the Akwa Ibom State Board of Internal Revenue with Mr. Okon Okon from Uruan Local Government Area saddled with the responsibility of chairing the Board.

From face value, one will not be out of place to confirm that the State Governor's concern for the financial wellbeing of Akwa Ibom State must have been responsible for the choice of Okon whom it is believed is a prudent manager of resources and a go getter.

But the Uruan man and his team must show capacity, class and tremendous reasons why he merited the choice.

Over time, the internally generated revenue of Akwa Ibom State has remained a top secret in the affairs of Government.  Nobody in the middle class understands the funds generated and how it is expended.  

At a time, a rumour was spread that the internally generated revenue between 2007 to 2015 was squandered by Obong Umana Umana, Obong Bassey Albert, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio and Isobara.  

These men did not come clean and deny the allegations at least till the time you will be reading this piece.  The inability of Akwa Ibom State to open up on the funds generated from her Internal Revenue have often made us to feel that there is no progress made with the funds generated from within the state, infact, it was believed that zero money was generated.  

This has always made many to quantify government programmes with relationship to funds gotten from the Federal Government. Either through federal allocation, excess crude oil funds, ecological fund, WHO, counterpart funding and other sources of Federal Government income.

Citizens were not made to understand that beyond the money the state receives from Abuja, that she has been making funds internally. The irony of this development however is that while the citizenry continue to swim in poverty, a select few members of a distinct cabal smile home to the bank with our money.  And worse of it is that they use our own money to further impoverished us. The corruption in that sector was fantastic in the words of a former British Prime Minister, David Cameroon.

In those days, anyone appointed to head the Board of Internal Revenue in the state will just smile because of the obvious reality that such person has hit a jackpot and would be swimming in a goldmine.  Attention was not so much on this Board leaving a lot of room for so much high level of fraud, corruption and financial recklessness.  In those days, whoever chairs this Board was a super chairman who will not listen to anyone except the Governor, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and perhaps the Finance Commissioner and any other member of the cabal feeding fat from the resources generated from Internal Revenue.

And to make matters worse, the House of Assembly as at that time methinks did not help matters.  They allowed the Board to become a haven of corruption; they failed to oversight the finances that accrued to the state from such sources.  It was a festival of corruption.

As Okon Okon steps into the Board of Internal Revenue, a lot of expectations are high, all eyes are on him.  Can he serve the interest of the people?  Will he deliver on the mandate and dictates of his office?  Will he be a pun in the hands of some powerful godfathers?  These and lots more are questions running through the minds of the people ever since Okon and his team were announced as those to manage this Board for Akwa Ibom people.

The BIR Chairman must, as a matter of urgency and importance should be a man of his own, he must be strong willed, be a strong team player and also become the ambassador of the Board. He must be buoyed by the shortcomings of his predecessors.  

Having risen through the ranks of leadership in the corporate society as a banker, anything less than effective service delivery from Mr. Okon Okon will amount to failure and a betrayal of the mandate that has been entrusted into his hands.  

I have not really seen the CV of the chairman of this BIR but my fair idea of him is that he is a banker of no mean repute, a financial guru Par Excellon and a man of character.

Yes, he has made magnificent progress as a Banker.  This has seen him rise in his profession to the position of Regional Manager with WEMA Bank Plc.  With his position now as Chairman of the Board of Internal Revenue in Akwa Ibom State, a lot is expected of him to judiciously execute and bring smiles on the Government and down trodden people of Akwa Ibom State.

There are few things Mr. Okon Okon can do to enhance a successful and eventful tenure as BIR Chairman. They include but not limited to transparency to Akwa Ibom people, broad mindedness, be accessible and continuously nurture credibility.  He can seek the best of hands and go tough on those who would default either in the field or off the field.

In this season of Buharinomics occasioned by change, there is that need for Okon Okon to show his worth.  He should galvanize his team the likes of Nse Atang, Leo Umana, Ekere Affia and others on a march that will restructure the economy of Akwa Ibom State.  

I still believe that we can use the resources we generate from our state to get so many meaningful things done. We do not always have to depend on the Federal Government for financial survival.  And with the man in the make of Okon Okon, yours sincerely is optimistic that from now Akwa Ibom State will have more reasons to count their funds from her internally generated revenue.  

But Okon Okon must lead his team in manners such that it generates enough capacity for human capacity building, accountability and sincerity of purpose in revenue generation.The BIR Chairman should not see his position as a platform to assume political leadership. If he does this, he will not last in his job and his popularity will diminish. Another thing the BIR man should not do is allowing himself to be used as a conduit pipe for siphoning the resources of Akwa Ibom State. He should look before he leaps. Because when the chips are down, he will be called upon to give an account.

While he will have to step on some toes to get his job done properly, Mr. Okon should realize also that there are hazards of the jobs he will need to encounter.  When these hazards come, he should not run away. He should stand and confront them. His overcoming of these hazards will form a part of his success story.

By tomorrow or later in the week, the BIR Chairman and his team ought to resume work in full capacity. I advise that they should not get so excited. They should create schemes and platforms that will enhance them to do their work. They should help build an Akwa Ibom State that can look beyond the revenue from the Federal Government.  And the revenue that shall be so generated under their watch should be made known to Akwa Ibomites. They should bury secrecy and come clean with what will benefit Akwa Ibom people.

Okon Okon and his team should be proactive and then live above expectations so that they can also etch their name in gold when the roll call shall be taken not in heaven but here on earth.  

Meanwhile, I congratulate them (The BIR team) and wish them a successful tenure.