President Tinubu Urges Nigerians to Embrace Tax Payment as Duty for National Development
President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to treat tax payment as a civic responsibility essential for driving national development and sustaining public services.
Speaking on Friday at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, the president said citizens often demand improved infrastructure and social services while resisting the financial contributions required to fund them.
He stressed that taxes remain a key source of revenue for government investment in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, and social welfare programmes targeted at vulnerable groups.
Tinubu argued that national development cannot be sustained without broad tax compliance from both individuals and corporate organisations, noting that every functioning citizen is expected to contribute to state revenue unless exempted by law.
He defended his administration’s ongoing economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange system, describing them as difficult but necessary steps to stabilise the economy and address long-standing structural challenges.
According to him, the subsidy regime had become financially unsustainable and had encouraged inefficiencies, while reform-driven savings were now being redirected into social intervention programmes and development projects.
The president acknowledged the initial hardship triggered by the reforms but said early indicators showed improvements in economic stability, including greater predictability in the foreign exchange market and enhanced fiscal planning for government and businesses.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to economic recovery and long-term growth, insisting that the reforms were designed to secure a more stable financial future for the country.
