Portrait of a Man of Excellence
as one that could be used to solve unemployment if the potential was fully harnessed.
From Sugar, he was first appointed Special Adviser on Revenue and then Executive Chairman of FIRS. After more than 100 days in charge, he has not left the staff of the agency in doubt that his administration will be signposted by merit and driven by data. He places a high premium on data because it is only a data-driven system that makes revenue target predictable for the realisation of the fiscal projections of government for economic development. “There is nothing like fiscal discipline except you have accurate revenue prediction. If you say you want to spend N10 and be disciplined with it, that means the N10 must be somewhere,” he once told the staff. He has equally assured them that their welfare is topmost on his agenda, while also entrenching and maintaining highest standards of accountability and transparency.
Apart from the journey to make FIRS rediscover itself which has since started under Adedeji, the chairman has been building the confidence of the taxpayers in the service, assuring them of a just, fair and modernized tax administration founded on data and technology. Speaking at a meeting with top 30 taxpayers in the country last year, Adedeji stressed that FIRS under him be committed to watering and making entities corporate to flourish so that their fruits can be beneficial to oiling the wheels of the economy. “Our plan is simple. We want to grow tax revenue and we only want to tax prosperity and not poverty. Therefore, it is not in our interest to kill the trees that bear the fruits. We will not collect what is not due to us. But we don’t want anyone not to pay what is due to us. Fair engagement is our plan.”
This is not all there is to say about Adedeji who turns 46years today. Space economy has to factor. Adedeji, like Baltasar Gracian, believes it is not enough to be intelligent, as having the right character is equally as crucial. This belief was vividly captured about Zacch by a former governor of Edo State and currently a Senator in the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole during the screening of Adedeji as FIRS chairman: “I think beyond his compelling CV that we have seen, what is not often captured in CVs are things like character, commitment, patriotism and competence. I have had interactions with this young man and I know he is of good character and he is very competent. What Mr President has done by appointing him is to show that what elders can do, young people can do even better and in a digitised way.”
If you are looking for a young man so blessed with high native intelligence, who is generous and compassionate, who wipes tears from people’s faces, a human calculator whose root and branch analyses of issues about figures and processes are so spot on, Zacch Adedeji is your ‘one-stop shop.’ I wish Olo’un wa a birthday filled with loads of happiness and fulfilled wishes. Bon anniversaire, chairman.