Tina Mba, others join FIRS for Binding Duty

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mba

As part of its measures to remove bottlenecks in the tax system in the country, the Federal Inland Revenue Service has hired some Nollywood actors and actresses. But rather than following the FIRS officials to various offices or companies to collect tax, the actors are engaging in what they know how to do best: drama production.

The collaboration has given birth to Binding Duty, a TV drama produced by seasoned broadcaster and master of ceremonies, Ohi Alegbe. With stage wizard Ihria Enakimo, who has starred in, among other works, Odia Ofeimun’s  dance dramas, A Feast of Return and Nigeria the Beautiful, as the director, Binding Duty is sponsored by the FIRS, based on its belief that drama is a powerful tool for enlightenment.

In the 26 episodes that have already been produced, veteran actress Tina Mba returns as Doorshima Jang (FIRS Director). She projects her versatility as she moves to resolve contradictions played up by various characters, some of who are bent on duping the agency. Other screen divas playing different roles in the drama  include Eric Obinna, Langley Evru and Tony Afokhai – while the executive producers are Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru and Kabir M Mashi.

Assistant Director at FIRS, Mr. Wahab Gbadamosi, is the coordinating producer, alongside Nneka Ifekwuna, with Abraham Adetutu and Austin Awulonu  as the director of photography and artistic director, respectively.

When Binding Duty comes on air, fans of TV soap operas will come to terms with the consequences of circumventing the tax system of a nation or state. Being a didactic drama,  all the characters that try to cheat the system are eventually punished, while those that do the right things are rewarded.

Of, course this is what the FIRS wants viewers to know, with Gbadamosi saying that the project, which started in 2008, is one of the subtle ways that it is adopting to cleanse the system and to firm up the revenue base of the Federal Government.

Gbadamosi says, “The behavioural change is being pursued in the house and our clients are being focused for synergy. It is also an education platform that cuts across all strata of the society.”

On her part, Ifekwuna notes that the drama has as its opening episode Short Cut, an in-house cleansing for the FIRS in order to effectively confront the challenges of enforcing compliance among tax payers.

“We have to clean our table, otherwise we will not be able to clean the nation,” she adds.

In Short Cut, a man who goes by many aliases and claims to work ‘directly with the director’ at FIRS, obtains a fake tax clearance certificate from a roadside printer on behalf of a family that has applied for a visa. An alert by the embassy saves the day for the tax authorities.

Other Episodes of the drama include Burrowed Time (focusing on unremitted VAT funds), To Have and to Hold(focusing on withholding tax proceeds), Ostrich Syndrome (focusing on tax arrears), and Double Jeopardy(focuses on personal income tax).