Nigeria is currently grappling with one of its most pressing socio-economic crises, an ever-widening gap between the ultra-rich and the impoverished majority.
A recent report by Oxfam has drawn attention to the severity of the inequality, revealing that 99% of the country’s wealthiest individuals evade or avoid paying taxes, exacerbating the nation’s already critical poverty levels.
According to the report, Nigeria’s wealth Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, stands at 35.1. This places the country 11th out of 16 West African nations in terms of income inequality.
While the nation’s richest citizens accumulate wealth untaxed, millions of Nigerians are faced with food insecurity, unemployment, and dwindling public services.
With 133 million people, around 70% of the population, struggling with hunger, the problem is particularly acute in rural areas where access to necessities like electricity is limited.
The report notes that women and girls bear the brunt of this economic hardship, representing 63% of the hungry population.
Literacy rates further illustrate this inequality: only 35% of Nigerian women are literate, compared to 59.5% of men. The gender disparity extends to land ownership, education, and access to healthcare.
The report also emphasizes the vulnerability of rural communities, where less than 40% of households have reliable access to electricity.
This limitation curtails educational opportunities, disrupts healthcare services, and hinders job creation in already marginalized areas. The disparity between rural and urban populations is stark, and as Oxfam points out, the gap continues to widen.
With 99% of the wealthiest citizens avoiding taxes, the nation is deprived of crucial revenue that could otherwise fund essential services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
According to Oxfam, a 1% tax on net worth exceeding $1 million could generate an estimated $7.5 billion annually. This amount would be sufficient to double the current health budget or reduce household healthcare costs by 40%.
Oxfam’s report also sheds light on Nigeria’s unsustainable debt burden. A significant portion of the national budget is spent on debt servicing, leaving little for critical public services such as healthcare and education.
Currently, Nigeria allocates only 2-3.5% of its national budget to education and 4-7% to healthcare, which falls far below global standards.
The Oxfam report makes it clear that now is the time for bold, transformative policies that prioritize the well-being of all Nigerians, not just the wealthy few.
