About 13 Government agencies In Akwa Ibom tax Us – Hoteliers Association President
Sir Aniefiok
Alexander is the president of Akwa Ibom State Hotel Proprietors Association,
the umbrella body of hotel owners in the state. In this interview with our
acting Weekend Editor, UbongAbasi Ise, he decries heavy taxations by the
various government agencies despite the pleas by the hotel owners to the state Board
of Internal Revenue. He also lament that epileptic power supply has taken heavy
toll on what would have been the profits to the owners of hotels in the state.
EXCERPT:
Prior to your assumption of office as the
president, what was the state of hospitality sector in Akwa Ibom State?
If I may say, the hospitality sector has come to stay in
Akwa Ibom State, because it is one of the safest states in the country. But
before now, there were no much facilities that had to do with hospitality. But since the tenure of the former governor, His
Excellency Godswill Akpabio came on board, he had really revived the sector.
And our dear governor (Mr. Udom Emmanuel) has taken over from where he stopped.
So it is better than the way it was when compared to some few years ago.
So what have your administration achieved
for the association since you take over power about six years ago?
Well, for now, we have succeeded in bringing all the
hotel owners to the umbrella body that has to do with hositality in the state.
We have also been able to have senatorial offices and leaders from Eket and Ikot
Ekpene senatorial districts as well as the state headquarters. So this is an achievement
that wasn't there. We have been able to establish senatorial offices for hotel
owners where they could come together to discuss the problems that have to do
with their business.
This current state government is emphasizing
industrialization. Do you have a feel that this industrialization has attracted
people to the state? I ask you this because hotels are usually the first part
of call for visitors.
Industrialization of the state is an ongoing project of
Deacon Udom Emmanuel. By the time the industries become firmly established, I'm
quite sure that the hospitality sector in the state would move from where we
are today to a greater height. Why am I saying so? Look at the environment and
Akwa State as a whole, you will see a lot of hotels springing up. Those that
were in small shape, their owners have gone ahead to do restructuring. That is
to show that the hotel owners are fully prepared for the time when those industries
would come to stay. There would be a lot of expansion in the hospitality
sector.
Through hospitality, it is possible to feel
the impact of tourism. In your administration, what are those benefits that
tourism fetched for hospitality s sector?
Well, I will appeal to His Excellency through the Commissioner
of Culture and Tourism to see how he could revive our ailing tourism sites in
the state. By that Akwa Ibom State would be a tourist destination if those
tourist sites are being developed. I would use this medium to appeal to the
governor to also look at the tourism sector. After oil, many of the countries
these days depend on tourism. So we need to develop most of our tourist sites.
With that, I'm quite sure that this state will witness a lot of visitors coming
in because of that sector.
After considering industrialization and
tourism, let's also look that entertainment which is one of the key factors
that has great potential to impact hospitality. So how would you assess the
impact of entertainment on hospitality sector in the state?
We have a lot of musicians that come out of the state.
But if you look at musical aspect of it and compare ourselves with Lagos or
Igboland, you will see a lot of upcoming acts. You know that most of the
problem we have here is lack of sponsorship. We have a lot of talents that are
there in the field but many of them lack sponsorship, and it’s not too well in
that sector. So I appeal to not only the government but well-meaning
individuals that they should come out and see how to develop most of our
upcoming artistes and make them to become stars. I remember Unik Brothers, they
are all my childhood friends but today because they are able to get some
sponsors from well meaning individuals, they are now among the key musicians
that come out from this state and they are doing well. So I appeal to individuals
to see how to assist our upcoming musicians to excel.
How do the owners of hotels in the state
assist Akwa Ibom entertainers?
Most of those big hotels that have night clubs and event
centers whom I know many of them do assist these artistes when they are putting
on shows. If they stage a big show it also helps the owners of the hotels to
advertise their business…
Do you have it as your administration’s
policy to boost the entertainment sector by lending support?
It is only when
they need assistance from the hotel owners that is when we can come in .Partnering
with hotel owners is a way of advertising their businesses.
What are the fundamental problems facing the
hospitality sector in Akwa Ibom State?
Well, one of the things that affect most of the hotels in
the state is lack of power. About 90% of income the hotel owners would make goes
for maintenance and buying of generators. I know that my dear governor has done
a lot in that sector, but I don’t know if it would be possible for us to have
access to our independent power plant. It
is quite unfortunate that after investing so much money on that project, the
state is not enjoying the fruit of her labour. So I am appealing to the
governor to please work and see how we can enjoy our independent power plant.
The next one is taxation. We have a lot of taxation
problems in the state. Even when we met
with the chairman of the state Inland Revenue Service, we discussed the same
thing. But upon that, we are having up to 12 to 13 government agencies that tax
the hotel owners in the state. When we
met with the chairman of the state Inland Revenue service, he was able to
streamline those taxes and we have about five. But there are still other
illegal taxes from both the local and the state governments that are asking the
hotels owners to pay and it is not too well with the business. So I’m still
looking forward to see the chairman of the State Inland Revenue Service on how
he can also bring in the local government because of a situation whereby local
government taxes is even more than that of the state. Most of those taxes the
state government asks us to pay, the local government area also ask us to pay
the same. That shows double taxations. So we will look into that when we
discuss with the chairman of the Board of Internal Revenue to see how to streamline
those taxes of the state, local and the federal governments so that many of the
hotel owners can be relieved at the end of the day. Comparing most of those
taxes with some of our sisters’ states, you will know that Akwa Ibom State pays
even higher than Rivers State. When we look at the tax Rivers State and other
ones are paying, it baffles me. You cannot compare Akwa Ibom and Rivers
state. I am still appealing to the
chairman of the board of internal revenue to look into these things so that the
hotel owners could assist in employment. If you talk about employment, after
civil service, the next industry that employs most of our citizens is the
hospitality sector. There is no hotel that you would see that doesn’t employ from
four to 30 staff. Most of those people would have been a burden to the
government. Government should also see how to appreciate what the hospitality
sector is doing by way of assisting in the employment of most of our youths.
What else would suggest for the government
to do to assist the hoteliers?
I really appreciate what our dear governor is doing by
giving grant or interest-free loans to market women, mechanics, and so on. I have
appealed to the governor and we have also written letters in that regards to
give us grants or interest-free loans so that the hotel owners can have access
which would help them to restructure their hotels and making them look better
than what we have today.
©The Sensor Newspaper
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