25th September 2025, NewsOrient, Opinion, Column, Governance And Development, Business And Economy, Law And Society, News
By John Chukwu Anyim

In civilized societies, taxation is a social contract between government and citizens. People contribute to the public purse and, in return, expect schools, hospitals, roads, security, and an environment that supports prosperity.

But in Nigeria, taxation has become an instrument of oppression, a whip in the hands of an extravagant ruling elite who squander national wealth while squeezing the last breath out of the poor.

The new tax regime being rolled out is nothing short of an economic landmine. At a time when inflation has reduced salaries to dust, unemployment stalks millions, and food prices gallop daily, the government has chosen to unleash a cocktail of new levies, duties, and charges. This is not reform, it is cruelty dressed up as policy.

How do you justify taxing poverty while government officials swim in obscene luxury? How can a nation where lawmakers earn the highest salaries in the world impose more burdens on traders, artisans, and small businesses who live hand-to-mouth? Worse still, these taxes are demanded from citizens who daily witness the waste and recklessness of their leaders.

Consider this: between July 2023 and December 2024, over ₦26 billion was spent maintaining the Presidential Air Fleet jets for the comfort of the ruling class, while public hospitals lack syringes and bandages. In the 2025 Appropriation Bill alone, a staggering ₦55.5 billion was earmarked for the same fleet. Add to this the ₦9.2 billion budgeted for routine maintenance of Aso Rock Villa’s mechanical and electrical installations, and ₦2 billion for replacement SUVs, and you begin to see the scale of waste.

While the people are told to “tighten their belts,” politicians continue to loosen theirs. Governors allocate billions for “security votes” that are never audited. In Oyo State, for example, a shocking ₦63.5 billion was earmarked to renovate the Agodi Government House, money that could have revolutionized schools, hospitals, and roads across the state. At the federal level, the Ministry of Works and Housing was caught by auditors spending ₦4.6 billion without appropriation or proper documentation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Steel Development budgeted for “ghost projects” that exist only on paper.

The waste is not accidental; it is systemic. A Tracka/BudgIT report revealed that in just one year, ₦99 billion was wasted on abandoned or uncompleted federal projects. These are funds released and supposedly spent, yet no bridges built, no classrooms delivered, no boreholes working. Nigerians are being taxed into poverty while their leaders burn their future in bonfires of corruption.

Even more insulting, billions are being funneled into vanity projects like the new ₦21 billion Vice President’s official residence and the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which former President Obasanjo himself condemned as an example of waste and misplaced priorities. These indulgences are being pursued at the very moment citizens are crushed by hunger, joblessness, and insecurity.

Let us be clear: this is robbery by policy. The government is quick to remind citizens of their “civic duty” to pay tax, yet blind to its own duty to cut waste, curb corruption, and deliver value for money. Nigerians are asked to sacrifice, while politicians gorge on luxury. It is hypocrisy of the highest order, and it is dangerous.

History is unforgiving on this matter. The French Revolution erupted when starving peasants were taxed into misery while nobility lived in excess. The American Revolution was triggered by a tax protest. Nearer home, the EndSARS protest of 2020 showed how quickly bottled-up frustrations can explode. A government that taxes poverty while flaunting its extravagance is not governing, it is gambling with fire.

This new tax regime will not solve Nigeria’s revenue problem; it will only deepen inequality and fan resentment. The real solution lies in slashing waste, taxing wealth, and enforcing accountability. Tax the luxury estates in Banana Island, not the tomato seller in Mile 12. Tax bulletproof SUVs, not okada riders. Tax billions stolen in inflated contracts, not the mechanic struggling to keep his workshop alive.

Nigerians are patient, but patience is not infinite. A hungry man cannot be pacified with lectures about “fiscal responsibility.” An unemployed graduate will not smile at a government that taxes his data subscription while offering no job. A market woman will not clap for policies that take food off her child’s plate.

The writing is on the wall. If the government does not immediately retrace its steps, slash its wastage, and design a fair taxation system that makes the rich and powerful pay their share, this regime risks igniting a crisis far beyond its control. The masses may be silent now, but silence is not consent, it is the calm before the storm. And when the storm comes, no convoy, no police barricade, no propaganda will stop it.

Nigeria does not have a revenue problem; it has a reckless spending problem. Until that is fixed, any new tax regime is nothing but a time bomb waiting to explode.

~ Published By NewsOrient Network

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