By Bola Babarinde (South Africa)
The inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, chaired by Taiwo Oyedele, marked a critical step in Nigeria’s renewed push to restructure its fiscal architecture. The committee was established at a time when the country faces mounting revenue pressures, widening inequality, and an urgent need to build a tax system that is fair, efficient, and development oriented.
The rationale behind setting up the committee is clear. Nigeria’s tax base remains narrow relative to the size of its economy and population. Millions of low income citizens bear a disproportionate tax burden, while many high earners and highly profitable sectors remain either under taxed or completely outside the tax net. The central objective of the committee, therefore, is to expand the tax net, reduce the burden on low income earners, ensure that big earners pay their fair share, and significantly increase government revenue to fund national development.
In principle, this objective reflects sound economic thinking and global best practices. In practice, however, a major contradiction has emerged.
Despite efforts to make the tax reforms appear comprehensive, one critical area of Nigeria’s economy seems deliberately omitted or forced into neglect, the solid minerals sector.
Nigeria is richly endowed with solid minerals across several regions of the country. Yet this sector remains one of the least regulated and least taxed segments of the economy. Powerful local and foreign interests dominate mining activities, often operating informally or illegally. The wealth extracted from these minerals is largely cornered by a few individuals, while the Nigerian state receives little or nothing in return through taxes or royalties.
This is not just an economic failure; it is a governance failure.
Research and empirical evidence increasingly suggest a link between illegal mining, insurgency, and terrorism in parts of Nigeria. Destabilizing mineral rich areas makes accountability difficult, weakens state control, and allows illegal mining to flourish. In such conditions, revenue losses multiply, criminal networks expand, and the state is deprived of funds needed for security and development.
This vicious cycle benefits a narrow group of profiteers while deepening poverty, insecurity, and underdevelopment in the affected regions.
No nation can grow or enjoy lasting peace without equity. In Nigeria, cash crops from the South West and oil from the South South have long been regulated, taxed, and exploited for the benefit of the federation. Revenues from these sectors have supported national budgets, even though the environmental and social costs are borne largely by host communities.
In contrast, solid minerals, predominantly found in parts of Northern Nigeria, are extracted with minimal transparency and little contribution to the national purse. Ironically, these mineral rich areas remain among the most underdeveloped in the country, with alarming levels of poverty, low human development indices, and widespread destitution.
This imbalance fuels migration, insecurity, and social strain. Many Nigerians from economically distressed regions now seek refuge in relatively prosperous and safer areas, particularly the South West. While national unity guarantees freedom of movement, no region can absorb unlimited economic and social pressure without consequences. Failure to address this imbalance poses a long-term threat to national cohesion.
As new tax laws are expected to take effect from January, their success will depend on inclusiveness and political will. A tax reform that excludes the mining sector is incomplete and unjust. The solid minerals sector must be properly regulated, formalized, and fully captured within the national tax net, for the benefit of all Nigerians rather than a few greedy and unpatriotic individuals.
It is common knowledge among economists and industry experts that revenues from solid minerals, if properly harnessed, could rival or even surpass those from oil.
Nigerians in the diaspora, particularly those based in Southern Africa, are ready and willing to support the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. South Africa offers a clear example. It is not an oil producing country, yet it sustains its economy largely through a well regulated and heavily taxed mining sector.
If South Africa can thrive on mining revenues, Nigeria, with its vast mineral deposits, large population, and strategic position, can achieve even greater results with the right policies and enforcement.
The year 2026 should mark the beginning of true equity in Nigeria’s economic governance. It should signal a commitment to one nation under one law, where all natural resources, whether oil, agriculture, or solid minerals, are treated with the same seriousness, transparency, and accountability.
Tax reform without mining reform is reform half done. Peace without economic justice is temporary. If Nigeria is serious about unity, development, and shared prosperity, the solid minerals sector can no longer remain in the shadows.
Only then can Nigeria genuinely claim to be one nation, governed by the same rules, and committed to the fair treatment of both its people and its abundant natural wealth.
