Why Tax Nigerians in a Broken Economy?

By P.L. Osakwe.

■ INTRODUCTION

There comes a time when a nation must ask itself: what is the purpose of taxation? Is it to build prosperity, or to punish survival?
Today, Nigerians are being asked to pay more taxes in an economy that is already broken. The naira is weak, food prices are crushing, jobs are scarce, and businesses are shutting down. In the midst of this pain, the government stretches out its hand for more.

■ Taxation: Duty or Exploitation?
In theory, tax is the contribution citizens make to sustain the state. But contribution must have purpose. A just system taxes in times of prosperity, when both the people and the government are thriving.
But when taxation falls on the shoulders of a poor people, without any clear plan to reinvest in them, it becomes exploitation, not governance.

■ Section 147: The Law and the Irony

Section 147 of the Nigerian Tax Act says every person engaged in business activity is taxable. But one question echoes: are these businesses the creation of government?
The truth is plain. Nigerians built these businesses with sweat and sacrifice. No power supply. No stable currency. No loans or grants. No safety. Yet, government arrives when it is time to collect. It wants a share of a cake it never helped to bake.

■ A Nation Sitting on Wealth but Milking the Poor
Nigeria is not poor. It is rich in resources but poor in management. Oil, gas, minerals, fertile land, human capital, all abundant. Yet instead of harnessing wealth, the state chooses the easiest road: squeeze the struggling citizen.

"Tax is not for poverty. Tax is for prosperity.

A happy country is one that taxes when the people are thriving, not when they are barely breathing.

■ Burden Without a Plan.
If taxation must happen in hardship, then it should at least come with a plan. Taxes should be tied to visible projects, roads, healthcare, education, security. But Nigerians are asked to pay blindly, with little to show in return.

This is why tax has become a burden, not a duty.
● A Call for Justice
This is not a call to evade taxes. It is a call for justice. If the state must tax, then let it first:
1. Fix infrastructure.
2. Stabilise the naira.
3. Show transparency in spending.
4. Protect the weak.
Only then will tax become partnership, not punishment.

⚖️ Conclusion
A country cannot tax its way out of poverty by taxing the poor. You cannot milk a cow that is skin and bone. To tax Nigerians in this broken economy, without any plan to help them, is not governance. It is injustice.