By Bonebi Tare

Several sources, including a top national daily on December 10, 2025, reported your recent induction into the highest honor of NIFEngM, a division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. As a new Fellow in Facility Engineering and an expert in Food and Industrial Engineering, could you explain what Facilities Engineering entails and what its niche responsibilities are?

Facilities Engineering has evolved into a strategic, digitally driven discipline responsible for the lifecycle performance of critical infrastructure. Modern facilities operate as integrated ecosystems that encompass power, utilities, buildings, equipment, automation, cybersecurity, safety, and sustainability, especially in food, healthcare, energy, and industrial sectors. When you manage assets across their full life cycle, you reduce total cost, extend asset life, prevent failure, and protect productivity. In simple terms, it is the engineering of systems that keep organisations running safely, efficiently, and in compliance, using a reliability thinking and data-driven monitoring rather than emergency fixes. That is why Facilities Engineering is increasingly treated as productivity infrastructure rather than a mere cost centre.

How does your engineering background and the fellowship shape your view of tax reform, which many people would consider “purely legal”?

Tax is law, yes. However, it is also a national operating system. A policy can be well drafted and still fail if the workflows, data integrity, control points, and dispute pathways are not engineered for reliability. In engineering terms, legislation is the design specification; administration is the plant that must run daily under load, under scrutiny, and under public expectation. So, my lens is simple: design for clarity, measurability, and resilience, then compliance becomes routine rather than a fight as it is here in the US.

What marks Nigeria’s “new tax era” from January 1, 2026? What changed in practical terms?

From January 1, 2026, Nigeria begins implementing reforms anchored in the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA). The trend is moving towards a digital and data-driven approach to compliance, especially for VAT fiscalization and e-invoicing. This means that transactions are verified through organized records instead of being agreed upon on paper. When done correctly, this method enhances traceability, reduces revenue loss, and speeds up dispute resolution because the system can track the transaction from start to finish.

Some Nigerians worry that the Tax reform will lead to more pressure and more confusion. What are your thoughts on this?

Engineers understand that intensity is not the same as effectiveness. The top priority is to create clear, repeatable processes: simple rules, standard procedures, predictable timelines, and consistent guidance among agencies. When there is confusion, compliance leads to disputes, and enforcement replaces good design. Reform works when honest taxpayers face less friction, not more, and when the system gains trust through fairness, transparency, and reliable service.

What proof will professionals accept by December 2026 to show that the reform is working?

Before the end of the year, the Nigerian government should measure what the engineers consider important, such as the platform uptime and response times. They should aim to make the taxpayer experience smoother from registration to filing and payment. There should also be a clear reduction in manual bottlenecks. It’s important to check data quality measures, including having clean TINs, high invoice-matching rates, and fewer duplicate records. Faster dispute resolution and audit outcomes are also necessary to encourage compliance while maintaining productivity. Most importantly, we need to consider the human aspect: if following tax rules becomes easier than breaking them for most businesses, the tax base will grow naturally, leading to less conflict, less coercion, and more reliable revenue..

What can Nigeria learn from the U.S. that it can adapt in its own way?

There are three main areas we focus on: withholding at source, third-party reporting, and standardization. Withholding at source helps the government collect payments early, preventing losses. Third-party reporting works like a system that checks for inconsistencies among employers, vendors, banks, and platforms. Standardization reduces differences, which is important for growth. Keeping definitions, forms, and processes consistent improves technology performance, makes audits fairer, and lowers compliance costs.

Nigeria is focusing on e-invoicing and fiscalisation. Why is this is an important strategy?

E-invoicing turns tax data into a clear and reliable stream of information. This increases record accuracy, strengthens audit trails, and helps resolve disputes more efficiently while preventing leaks. However, simply digitizing a poor process can lead to new problems. To avoid this, organizations should ensure they have accurate master data, provide full user support, set clear timelines for the transition, and focus on reliability. This will help maintain system stability, usability, and trustworthiness.

If you were commissioned to “industrial-engineer” Nigeria’s tax administration in 90 days, what would you do first?

I would commission in phases: stabilise PAYE, VAT e-invoicing, and large-taxpayer reporting first, then expand coverage in controlled waves. I would build a single source of truth for taxpayer identity, treat third-party data as condition monitoring, and deploy risk-based audits using probability times impact. In parallel, I would redesign the taxpayer experience, set clear service standards, provide accessible support, and create dashboards that reveal bottlenecks and failure points so they can be corrected quickly.

Can you connect Nigeria’s reforms to Nigeria-U.S. business, and how can the new tax era make cross-border deals easier and benefit both countries?

First, it helps to remember that Nigeria is not on the United States’ list of income tax treaties, so documentation and process clarity matter even more in cross-border contracting. A modern, standardised system, especially VAT invoicing, fiscalisation, and real-time validation, reduces the “trust tax” because U.S. firms often require verifiable documentation for procurement controls, audit trails, and financing approvals. Clearer, consistently applied rules on withholding and non-resident obligations can reduce avoidable registration and filing friction for U.S. vendors whose Nigerian-source income is already subject to withholding mechanisms where applicable. This approach helps speed up agreements between Nigerian organizations and U.S. consultants, manufacturers, IT vendors (e.g., software), and specialized contractors. It allows Nigerian organizations to set contract prices with more confidence and reduce the chances of disputes. At the same time, U.S. companies gain lower-risk partners in Nigeria and better transaction data, which helps them make stronger trade and investment decisions. 

As you say your parting word, how can we keep trust in 2026, especially during discussions about powers, different versions, and enforcement?

In the end, trust is built through fair processes and clear ways to resolve disputes. Provide clear guidance promptly, maintain a single, updated legal document, and set clear rules for enforcement. Use audit logs in digital systems to track decisions and reviews, and allow taxpayers to challenge assessments without facing penalties. When taxpayers see fairness, consistency, and quick resolutions, they are more likely to comply, thereby expanding the tax base without resorting to force.

Finally, if the tax reform package is well-executed as designed, it will promote harmonization and coordination, including a solid institutional framework to help reduce friction in revenue administration and make dispute resolution smoother. This is especially important for U.S.-linked projects such as equipment supply, EPC/facility upgrades, cold-chain investments, and digital systems rollouts, because when things are predictable, it lowers the risk premium, speeds up contract cycles, and boosts confidence in financing. All in all, this creates a positive cycle: Nigeria becomes a more dependable place for manufacturing, invoicing, and scaling compliant operations, which in turn supports stronger trade relationships, technology transfer, and long-term investments. Please, let me add that I am an engineer, and my opinion should not be taken as legal tax advice.