Nigerians on social media have strongly criticised the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, following his recent comments dismissing critics of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.
Naijaonpoint reports that the outrage followed a trending video in which Adedeji questioned what critics would have done differently to manage the nation’s economic challenges.
Addressing President Tinubu in the video, Zacch Adedeji said: “That is what I get worried about when I listen to some people about the economy and everything. Just ask them, what would they do differently? Mr President, I don’t want you to wonder. You have elevated the system from what they know and wonder.”
His comments, however, triggered swift backlash online, with many accusing the revenue chief of showing arrogance and a lack of empathy toward the economic hardship faced by ordinary citizens.
Reacting to the viral clip on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter), a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr Joe Abah, described the revenue chief’s remarks as deeply insensitive to the struggles of everyday Nigerians.
Abah went further to outline specific steps the government could have taken to cushion the effects of economic reforms on the public, drawing comparisons with international measures used to tackle high living costs.
“If true, this is a deeply insensitive statement,” Abah wrote. “But to answer the question of what I would have done differently, I can just look at the UK’s Andy Burnham, who is trying to tackle the cost of living.”
He highlighted practical relief policies, stating: “In just 19 days, he has removed the 5 percent VAT on domestic electricity (it is 7.5 percent in Nigeria); capped bus fares at £2 per ride by reimbursing private sector operators for the difference in real costs; pledged a 20 percent cut in business rates for pubs and clubs; maintained and adjusted Universal Credit to favour the poorest and most vulnerable.”
Abah concluded with a direct message to the revenue boss: “So, I would have used the increasing tax revenue to tackle the cost of living. That is what I would have done differently at my own level. Hope that helps.”
Other Reactions
Other commentators also faulted Adedeji, accusing public officials of enjoying heavy government spending while demanding sacrifices from struggling citizens.
@petprazio – “I blame the idiots that voted and still support this heartless administration. They are the reason the bald head man is insulting Nigerians. If Nigerians are below Tinubu’s reform level, he should do us a favour and vacate.”
@rasheed_esq – “Zacch Adedeji wants to know what Nigerians complaining about the economy ‘would do differently.
Of course we won’t not raise WAEC fees 82% on families earning minimum wage. We won’t preside over debt jumping from ₦87.4tn to ₦144.7tn in 18 months. We won’t let NNPC spend ₦11.9 trillion in two years on a subsidy the government claimed was gone. We won’t let insecurity become a culture.
Nigerians don’t need a lecture on what they’d do differently. They need someone in government to explain, with actual published numbers, what exactly this administration has done right. Show us the books first Zach. Then we’ll talk about who’s below whose level.”
@martinstradefxw – “First collect what’s left from those looters like himself, expose those terrorists’ sponsors and prosecute them; then the rest can follow.. . If we can get rid of corruption, I am 100% sure many would be lifted out of poverty…”
@mohzizeinsteinp – “We are living in Bible times. The Biblical Zacchaeus, a tax collector, had a chance to dine with Jesus. Unfortunately, this one is dining with the devil.”
@oloyedetom – “If you make this kind of daft statement in a serious country, you will pack your bag and go home. Imagine the reductive remark about Nigerians by this runt, bearing wild scarifications of ineptitude. This boy must be of a carnivorous phenotype. You keep suckling off of the sweat of the masses with nothing to show but your uncouth denigration of their economic acuity. Na wa ooo.”
@Future_Medieval – “If Nigerians are below Tinubu’s reform level then he has no business being on that seat. How do you lead people who know nothing about the destination they are headed? It’s only slaves that you force to a destination they aren’t aware of, and Nigerians are not slaves, so shut up.”
@GUnwaba – “It is disappointing that government officials knew Nigerians were unprepared for tough reforms, yet went ahead. Citizens would have been more receptive if the government had first prepared their minds before implementation.
@iampromisefredk – “Leave the seat and watch how we do it differently; you guys are just a bunch of thieves.
@EleboWilson – “We seem to have a bunch of dubious and unpatriotic lunatics occupying the various exalted positions in the country! We wake up every day to hear one senseless speech after another by these God-forsaken individuals.
“How on earth did we really get to this point, for God’s sake?”
@jolson20 – “You have a job and they pay you enough salary to take home. But how can a government be elevated above its people to the point that no one understands it? Is that governance?”
Making decisions in secrecy that do not reflect in people’s lives, just reckless borrowing and wastage.
A legal practitioner, Vena Ikem, criticised the government’s tax drive on low-income earners, writing: “He should ask himself what all the millions of dollars he is spending mean to the tax he is collecting even from poor people. If karma truly fulfils, this man will get his just deserts in the land of the living. This arrogance is from getting away with stealing tax money.”
