So, my brother Ahmed, who works with the LIRS, has been stressing me about the need to do my assessment.
He has been so passionate about it and will be talking about the Social Contract
I will say oya and we will start the process and we will stall and we will start and we will stall
Recently the huge LIRS have been drumming it into our ears that we should all file our returns
They not only pushed the narrative but have also made the process very seamless
Almost daily, I get email prompts reminding me of the tax returns and all
You see, apart from the Ekiti Internal Revenue Service which is run by my man Niran, the LIRS, I can say is the best-run, best-performing, and most crucial partner to the government in its bid to meet its obligations to the people
Ayo Subair has been running the place for a bit and I must say that I have yet to meet a more committed public servant
The LIRS is the only public institution that I know in this country where the staff don’t harangue you for ‘something’ when you do business with them
It is with this commitment that they push into their duties, which now makes them surpass their targets year in and year out
So back to the gist, why I rushed this morning to LIRS
I had woken up by 2am this morning and could not find sleep again so I decided to write my column for Thisday
In looking for interesting stories to do my write-ups, I stumbled upon a news report
LIRS was arraigning in court individuals and companies who have failed to settle tax defaults.
When I looked through the list, I saw some heavyweights. People who had direct access to the corridors of power and people whom I knew very personally had keys to the bedroom in Bourdillon
I panicked, Kai, if they could go this far with these people that means these people mean business o
I could not wait till 6am to call Ahmed my faithful brother at LIRS to say – oh boy how we go move
Remember, I had just paid a courtesy call to Kiri Kiri and would not like to go back as an inmate
Ahmed laughed and reminded me that we had already started work and I asked him some pertinent questions
How are you accessing me? He said income and I said mbok remember that I am an entrepreneur in a loss-making company and he said, you wey fresh like this and I said na Afang no be by fresh
Within two hours, I got an email from LIRS informing me of my account number and my Tax ID number and I said wow
At least anybody wey want catch me, I will show them that the process is ongoing
Then Ahmed calls again and he is talking about the social contract between the citizen and the government
A lot of people have been asking why they should pay tax when they are not getting benefits from the government and I say bullshit
Do your part and demand accountability from the Government
We cannot all now be saying that they will chop the money or what are they doing and now not pay.
The consequences for not paying apart from a possible jail time, are the continuous under development we all wallow in
So pay and now ask for what they do with the money.
As I await my assessment result, I no longer feel afraid.
If they come with plenty of money, I will go to Lapo and borrow the money and pay at least I would have done my own bit
I have a small clip sent to me by the hard-working and brilliant Communications expert at LIRS – Motunrayo who is my sister that I can send to you if you need more information.
Just ask and I’ll send it
This is a public service announcement voluntarily sent out without prompting but from the fear of jail by The Duke of Shomolu
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: April 9, 2026
