Introduction
Driven by the growing trend in tax reforms and the need for Nigeria to be keeping pace with its counterparts the world over, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the American University and the iiG programme at Oxford University implemented a workshop on taxation under the theme ‘improving revenue generation through taxation in Nigeria’.
The importance of a non-oil revenue base was emphasized as the way forward in diversification of the nation’s economy through innovative strategies that would boost the nation’s economy. Taxation was noted as top on the agenda to solve the problem. The federal government’s efforts towards reforming the tax system was put into perspective while the current strategy aimed at making the payment of tax compulsory to all citizens, reviewed.
The overriding objective of the workshop was to present the findings of a survey conducted by researchers from the iiG; the American University Washington; and the University of Jos, Nigeria on taxation in Africa and to share practical experiences on taxation with a view to establishing good practices in tax reform.
Participants discussed basic techniques of strengthening their taxation capacity; how to expand their revenue base to enthrone the most cost effective administration and control systems; and reviewed practical critical issues, transformation strategies and a practical implementation plan.
The workshop also laid strong foundations for the upcoming discourse at the 2nd Internally Generated Revenue Conference being organized by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on November 18th 2012, looking at ways to fully transform and scale up the Internally Generated Revenue System in Nigeria.
