"Tax waiver not enough": Borno flood-affected business owners tell Governor Zulum

Business owners affected by last year’s devastating flood in Borno State have told Governor Babagana Zulum they need more than tax waivers from the government to recover from the losses they suffered in the natural disaster.

The flood disaster, which followed the collapse of the Alau Dam in Maiduguri on 10 September 2024, caused massive disruptions to economic activities in Borno. The dam collapsed due to climate change factors and poor maintenance of the facility over the years.

The state government had granted the affected businesses a two-year tax waiver to help their recovery..

The gesture comes weeks after a PREMIUM TIMES reported how controversy trailed the disbursement of N18.8 billion from the N28.2 billion donations made by the federal and state governments, businesses and philanthropic organisations to the victims of the flood. All the business owners interviewed for the story said they had not received any support.

The announcement of the tax waiver by the Chairman of the Borno State Internal Revenue Service (BO-IRS), Ibrahim Bello, was greeted with mixed reactions.

Damage by Flood

In addition to the bridges, schools, clinics, farmlands, and businesses destroyed by the flood, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the disaster killed 30 people and affected 400 others. However, the International Organisation for Migration, which collaborated with the Borno State Government and other development partners, put the number of victims at over 900 in its latest situation report.

The report also highlighted the victims’ immediate humanitarian needs, including food, shelter, medicine, and potable drinking water.

Tax Waiver Not Enough—Victims

According to Mr Bello, the revenue chief, Governor Zulum wanted to help the affected traders to reinvest in their businesses without the additional burden of tax obligations.

However, in their reactions, the businesses commended the governor for the gesture but said it was not their primary expectation from his government.

However, business owners who spoke with our reporters on Wednesday said they preferred to receive support from the relief fund the government claimed to have disbursed.

“Even if it is N10,000 as support for cleaning our shop, that would have been good,” Ruth Odoikwu, owner of Baba Rich Kitchen Wares and Wrappers Shop along Lagos Street in Maiduguri, said.

“The government representative came here and even wrote something on my door. They collected account details, but I have not received anything yet,” she added.

“We have lost a lot. We lost goods worth over N200 million. I am just hearing from you about the tax waiver, and I think it is something good, and we are grateful to the government, but this was not what we expected. The government disbursed relief funds, but neither I nor anyone in this plaza received the money,” Saleh Maidabino, manager of Maidabino Furniture Enterprise Limited along Lagos Street, said.

Others who reacted to the governor’s latest intervention said they preferred soft loans in the absence of financial handouts.

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“We have been waiting to hear from the government. It is very benevolent of them to have given a tax waiver, but our losses are colossal, so they need to do more. We need some kind of compensation given to be able to re-equip the hospital to further serve the people of the state. In the absence of this intervention from the government, soft loans would be acceptable,” said Ezekiel Ogunbiyi, the Chief Medical Director of Nakowa Specialist Hospital. He stressed that the hospital had operated the state for over 40 years.

During the flood, about half of the hospital building was submerged. It later declared losing drugs and medical equipment valued at about N500 million to the flood.

When this reporter visited the hospital last month, its fences, which had been damaged by the flood, were still unfixed.

According to the management, immediately after the flood, the government presented some bottles of water, towels, beverages, toiletries, and buckets to the hospital for their patients.