March 30, 2024
The President, African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has lamented the living condition of Nigerians amidst current economic quagmire bedeviling the country.
Adesina in a statement signed Saturday by his Special Adviser on Industrialisation, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, lamented that Nigerians paid one of the highest implicit tax rates in the world, adding that when governments or institutions failed to provide basic services, the people would bear the burden of a heavy implicit tax.
The AfDB President was quoted to have made the call in a lecture he delivered as the recipient of the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, titled, ‘Making a New Nigeria: Welfarist Policies and People-Centred Development.’
“Truth be told, Nigerians pay one of the highest implicit tax rates in the world. Most of the citizens provide electricity for themselves via generators; they repair roads in their neighbourhoods if they can afford to. They provide boreholes for drinking water with their money.
“In the 21st century, this is incredulous as every household should have pipe-borne water! Sadly, the abnormal has been normalised.
“If people pay taxes, governments must deliver services to citizens and be held accountable for their ability to do so or not.
“Governments should not transfer their responsibility to citizens. When governments or institutions fail to provide basic services, the people bear the burden of a heavy implicit tax,” Adesina opined.
