Economist and public affairs analyst, Professor Adi Bongo, has said Nigeria’s political and economic challenges stem from the nation’s dependence on oil revenue instead of taxation.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Bongo argued that without a tax-based democracy, Nigerians lack the leverage to hold leaders accountable for the management of public funds.
“I keep saying that we’re not a tax-paying democracy. We are more like a revenue-sharing democracy. These are two different regimes and they create different incentives and norms,” he said.
According to him, a system where government relies on oil income rather than citizens’ taxes has fostered unaccountability and wasteful governance.
“If citizens don’t pay taxes, they don’t ask questions about how money is spent. That’s why leaders act without accountability,” he stated.
He explained that taxation promotes civic responsibility and grants citizens moral authority to question government actions. “Taxation gives citizens the moral right to question government spending. Without it, there’s no real democracy,” Bongo said.
Professor Bongo noted that Nigeria’s rentier economy, sustained by oil revenue, has discouraged productivity and innovation. “The rentier system has made us lazy as a nation. Once money comes from oil, nobody bothers about productivity,” he added.
He warned that until Nigeria transitions to a tax-based economy, genuine reform and sustainable development would remain unattainable. “Until we move from a revenue-sharing to a tax-paying democracy, genuine development will remain impossible,” Bongo stated.
Calling for fiscal reforms at both federal and state levels, Bongo criticised the over-centralised revenue system. “Every month, governors rush to Abuja for allocations instead of developing their internal economies. That’s our biggest problem,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to push for a restructured fiscal framework that promotes accountability, transparency, and citizen participation. “If people begin to pay taxes directly, they will have the courage to challenge misuse of public funds,” he concluded.
