The Things I Learnt From The Just Concluded 13th Annual General Conference Of MULAN Held In Minna, Niger State.

The Things I Learnt From The Just Concluded 13th Annual General Conference Of MULAN Held In Minna, Niger State. 

By Desmond Yamah, Esq.

The choice of topics and the calibre of scholars that made the presentations in the just concluded 13th Annual General Conference of Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) held in Minna, Niger State were remarkably awesome. Suffice to say that the organizers led by Prof. Abdulqadir I. Abikan did a wonderful job, history will  be kind to them as they strived so hard to contribute their quota, positively towards the building of a better Nigeria.

In Dr. Ahmad Jibrin Suleiman's paper, "Issues on National security and the media: Exploring alternative strategies presented on the 9th day of October, 2021 at the 13th Annual General Conference themed: A nation in need of reorientation, reintegration and rehabilitation held at Justice Legbo Kutigi International Conference Center, Minna, Niger State, I totally aligned myself with the famous phrase of Senator Hiram Johnson that "in war", truth is the first casualty. This is clearly where the media comes in.

The presenter noted that the problem is that the Media, being a double edged sword is capable of bringing about or escalating conflicts and threats to national security. 

He stated further that this particular kind of problem is not common with mainstream media but exacerbated with the recent introduction of the new media (social media). He equally noted that the recent effort to introduce legislative intervention to cage the media were seriously resisted by public outcry.

Dr. Ahmad also looked into the theoritical and conceptual challenges in the entanglement or in the clash of interest between national security on the one hand and media on the other hand.

The presenter also made it clear that the media is capable of being a tool of nation building or a weapon of destruction. He concluded by talking about Peace Journalism as another alternative approach proffered by scholars which seeks to promote peace from all quarters and how value bias towards violence can be avoided when covering war and conflict.

In Prof. A. B. Ahmed's paper, "The importance of taxation in the socio-economic development of our nation also presented in just concluded conference, I equally agree with the presenter that taxes are an essential component of modern society. He noted that besides being a moral duty, paying taxes is also a legal obligation.

He talked about how tax policies touch on a number of disciplines including but not limited to law etc. He also talked about the challenges that federal, state and local governments are currently facing with very serious financial deficits especially in the face of the current economic realities.

Prof. Ahmed identified sale of assets, increasing borrowings, reduce spending or increased taxes as the basic major mechanisms with which to face the difficulties.

He justified the payment of taxes by stating that government uses tax to carry out their fundamental functions such as: provision of public goods and services, maintenance of law and order, defence against external aggression etc.

Some of the numerous challenges the presenter identified were that taxes should not exceed that which is needed to fund public needs, introducing necessary reforms that will widen the tax base and bring a larger part of the population into the formal economy, finding the optimal balance between a tax regime that is business and investment friendly and at the same time leveraging enough revenue for public service delivery etc.

Government should institute an appropriate tax system which emphasises the broadening of the tax base and not the tax rate

Voluntary compliance should be encouraged through continuous tax payers' education and the institutionalization of a functional tax administrative system etc.were some of the recommendations made by Prof. Ahmed.

The paper presentation on "Islamic Finance And Distributive Justice" in the just concluded MULAN Annual General Conference came at better time. I observed that the levels and the norms of Islamic finance and distributive justice will guarantee equity and fairness in the society.

In conclusion, I make bold to state that the papers presened by Dr. Ahmad Jibrin Suleiman of the Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Prof. A. B. Ahmed of the Department of Private and Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano, that of Islamic finance and distributive justice as well as that of other presenters were very rich in content highly informative. Participating in the just concluded 13th Annual General Conference of MULAN held in Minna, Niger State was a very rewarding experience for me personally. I thank the organizers for a job well done and I challenge the organizers to ensure that such enlightenment are put in the public space for better appreciation.

Desmond Yamah, Esq.

Fmr. Chairman of NBA, Abuja.